Monster World Online
by Count Morningstar
Summary: Thousands of people in Japan log in to the exciting new VRMMORPG known as Monster World Online, including Yugi and his friends. But when the evil-minded Bakura takes control of the game, the players become trapped inside. Now Kirito, Asuna, and every other player in MWO have become caught in the crossfire of the war for the Millennium Items.
1. Prologue

**Introduction:** This story has been a long time in the making, and perhaps one of my more ambitious ideas. When I saw the very first episode of Sword Art Online, a single question entered my mind. How would Yami Yugi do in a game like SAO? Soon after I asked that question, I remembered the Monster World arc from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and the Season Zero anime. Thus the concept for this story was born. So after several months of refining the idea, I finally sat down and began work on it. And I'm glad I'm finally getting it off the ground.

Just to be clear, this is pretty much an AU to both Yu-Gi-Oh! and Sword Art Online, and has no connection to any previous Yu-Gi-Oh! or SAO story I've done previously. That said, on with the story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Prologue

It was a late Saturday night at the lab of the game company, Industrial Illusions. While much of the staff had already gone home hours before, Akihiko Kayaba was hard at work putting the final last-minute touches on his creation. Tomorrow was the official launch date of his game, _Monster World Online_, the first virtual MMORPG based loosely on the old tabletop RPG known as _Monster World_. The game had a secret though that Kayaba was certain that the public wouldn't like. But he didn't care about that one bit. The world he created was at long last going to come to life.

A sudden knock at his office door forced Kayaba to turn away from his computer and get up. Upon opening the door, Kayaba saw standing on the other side a young man with long white hair. He had on what looked like a school uniform consisting of a buttoned up blue jacket and long blue pants.

"Um, good evening sir." The young man greeted somewhat nervously. "You do remember me, right?"

"You're Ryo Bakura, one of the beta testers for the game." Kayaba replied. "What is it that you want?"

"Well, I just wanted to drop by and thank you for giving me the four extra copies of your new game and the extra NerveGear helmets." Bakura explained. "My friends were just thrilled about getting them."

"Think nothing of it." Kayaba replied as he turned and went back to his computer. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few things to finish up before the launch of the game."

"Oh, but my business with you is far from done, Kayaba." Bakura responded.

Kayaba noticed that Bakura's voice sounded different from before. He swiveled his chair around and saw that the young man's face seemed different somehow. It was in the eyes mostly. The eyes that were once friendly and cheerful had become somehow murderous. Kayaba also noticed that the young man's jacket was open, revealing a white shirt and a strange golden pendant hanging by a leather string. The pendant was a golden ring with a large triangular piece in the center. On the front of the triangle was a strange eye-like symbol, and hanging down from the bottom half of the ring were five pointed ornaments.

"What is this?" Kayaba asked, somehow sensing that something was wrong.

"I have to admit, I'm a bit envious of you." Bakura continued as he walked further into the office and shut the door behind him. "I've done what you've been planning to do many times before with tabletop RPGs, but I've never done it on such a large scale. This technology of yours is quite impressive."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Kayaba told him.

"Don't play dumb with me, Kayaba. I know that you're planning to trap all the players of Monster World Online inside the game." Bakura revealed.

The color drained from Kayaba's face. "How did you know?"

"Mainly a hunch. One that you've just confirmed for me." Bakura answered. "It occurred to me as my host helped to test your little game that all one would have to do would be to remove the logout option to trap people inside. And from the times my host met you, I was able to figure out that you were the type of man to do just that."

"So just what is it that you want?" Kayaba asked.

"Nothing much." Bakura replied with an evil grin. "I simply want to take over control of this little game of yours."

"I don't know what it is you want with my game, but I'm not handing control of it over to your or anyone." Kayaba told him.

"I didn't say I was giving you a choice." Bakura responded.

Suddenly the eye in the center of Bakura's pendant began to glow with a strange golden light. An instant later the room was filled with a strange purple mist.

"What's going on?" Kayaba asked as he looked around. "What is this?"

"You want to keep control of your game, I'm going to give you a sporting chance." Bakura explained. "I challenge you to a shadow game! And if I win, control of your game goes to me."

"A shadow game?" Kayaba repeated. "What is that?"

Suddenly Bakura threw something at Kayaba that the blonde scientist managed to catch with his hand. The item in question was a pair of ten-sided dice, one red and one blue.

"You know what these are, don't you Kayaba?" Bakura asked. "They're ten-sided dice, the kind used in old tabletop RPGs. I have a pair as well. The rules of this game are simple. We take turns rolling the dice, and the one who rolls the lowest number wins."

"If I win this game of yours, you'll leave?" Kayaba asked.

"Of course." Bakura assured him. "But if you lose, a penalty game awaits."

Fine then. Let's get this over with." Kayaba replied as he let the dice fall from his hand.

The dice rolled on the floor for a few moments before finally stopping in front of Bakura's feet. The red die landed on the number one, while the blue die landed on the number four.

"A fourteen." Kayaba observed. "It seems the odds are in my favor."

"Perhaps, but I still have my roll to make." Bakura pointed out.

With a flick of his wrist, Bakura sent his pair of dice flying into the side of the desk. The dice ricocheted off the desk and clacked against each other before they landed in the center of the floor. Both dice landed on the number zero.

"Well, it seems that I win." Bakura observed. "Penalty Game! Mind Doll!"

Suddenly a ball of blue light flew out of Kayaba's chest and went into his computer. His unconscious slumped out of his chair.

Bakura laughed as he walked over and pushed Kayaba's soulless body to the floor. "That was easy. Now all that's left is to make this game mine. Technology isn't something I'm skilled at, but with the power of my Millennium Ring and place a part of my soul in the computer that controls this game and make it an extension of my being."

With that, a beam of light shot out the center of Bakura's ring and hit the computer. The evil gamer laughed as strange lines of code began to appear on the screen.

"And now the stage has been set for the ultimate RPG!" Bakura declared. "Get ready, Yugi. Once you die in this game, your Millennium Puzzle will be mine!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** I watched the Sword Art Online anime all throughout the development of this story. And as the focus of the series shifted more towards the relationship between Kirito and Asuna, another question entered my mind. How would Kirito and Asuna do against an enemy like Yami Bakura? So in a way this crossover can be thought of as the first arc of SAO with a better villain.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. Game Start!

**Author's Note:** It occurred to me when I was doing the prologue that I was combining the new and the old in this story. For one thing I was doing a crossover between an old anime classic like the original Yu-Gi-Oh! with a much newer anime like Sword Art Online. But I was also converting an old tabletop RPG like the Monster World game from Yu-Gi-Oh! into an advanced online game. That was one of the hardest parts of working on this story. So in this first chapter I've tried to explain how the game works a bit, and I hope I did an okay job.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 1: Game Start!

The year was 2022, and the game company of Industrial Illusions had developed the next generation of gaming, a type of game known as a Virtual Reality Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, or VRMMORPG. The game was played using a special kind of helmet known as a NerveGear that allowed players to enter a completely virtual world that felt almost entirely like the real thing. On the Sunday of November sixth, the very first game in this new genre, _Monster World Online_, was released in Japan. At least ten thousand copies of the game had already sold, and long lines to get the game had formed at game shops almost everywhere only days before the official release. It seemed clear that the game was already going to be a hit.

It was 1:00 PM as a fourteen-year-old young man named Kazuto Kirigaya prepared to enter the game himself. After his preparations were complete, he placed the NerveGear helmet on his head and got onto his bed in his room. With a single command, the world around him vanished and he felt himself flying through a stream of color. And only an instant later he was standing in the middle of the game's Starting City in the form of his in-game avatar, Kirito. The city itself was like a city from the middle ages, and was already filled with new players.

As Kirito made his way through the crowd of players, he saw a man with long red hair and a bit of beard on his chin running towards him. He had on a red and yellow headband with a long-sleeved greyish-white shirt, long brown pants, and brown leather chest armor.

"Hey!" the man called as he went up to Kirito. "You're one of the beta testers for this game, right? I figured that out because you seem to know your way around this place. Mind showing me the ropes?"

"Sure." Kirito replied. "There's a field nearby we can use."

On the way to said field, Kirito learned that the other player called himself Klein. Soon after their arrival, they were attacked by one of the game's low-level monsters. It was a simple wild boar. Klein attacked the beast by wildly swinging his sword, but his attacks seemed to do no damage. The boar on the other hand was doing quite well. It tackled Klein to the ground and caused the visual representation of his HP gauge to drop slightly.

"You're doing it wrong." Kirito told him. "You have to move the right way in order to activate the sword skill."

Klein imitated the pose Kirito made and held his sword up horizontally. The blade began to glow with a red light, and Klein charged at the boar just as it made another run at him. With a single slash, the creature was cut in half and shattered apart into polygons made of blue light.

"Awesome!" Klein enthusiastically declared. "And you know, it didn't hurt when that pig thing hit me. I mean it didn't feel right, but it wasn't like I was actually hurt."

"It wouldn't be that great a game if you felt actual pain when getting hit." Kirito pointed out.

"Good point." Klein replied. "You know, it's a little hard to believe that this game is based on one of those ancient tabletop RPGs."

"They really changed a lot for the VRMMO." Kirito informed him. "For one thing, all the player characters are human. In the old tabletop version of Monster World, you could play as creatures like elves or fairies."

"I read in an article about this game that they changed the whole player class system too." Klein recalled.

"Yeah, they really gave that part an overhaul." Kirito agreed. "In this version, players have three main classes to choose from, the Warrior Class, the Spellcaster Class, and the Artisan Class. Each class has subclasses. For example a couple of the Warrior subclasses are swordsmen and archers, while a couple of the Spellcaster subclasses are wizards and necromancers. The Artisan subclasses are made up of blacksmiths, jewelry makers, even tailors."

"Oh, so this game's not all about fighting stuff." Klein observed.

"Nah, there's a little something for everyone in this game." Kirito confirmed. "But what subclass a player chooses ultimately depends on what skills he or she develops, like the weapons the player trains with. Basically you get to develop your character from the ground up."

"That is pretty cool." Klein admitted. "So is there anything else they changed about this game from the old tabletop version?"

"Only that the company put in a bunch of creatures from that one collectable card game they came out with awhile back, _Duel Monsters_." Kirito answered.

"Oh man, I tried playing that game once." Klein revealed. "I totally sucked at it. So, care to show me a little more of this place?"

"Sure." Kirito agreed.

The afternoon continued on as Kirito showed his new friend around. By the time the sun had begun to set, the two of them had made it to the top of a hill overlooking a vast valley below.

Klein noticed his stomach beginning to growl. "Man, I guess it's been awhile since I had something to eat."

"Eating something in here will satisfy your hunger virtually, but it's not the same as eating actual food." Kirito informed him.

"Yeah, it's probably about time that I logged out anyway." Klein decided. "I ordered a pizza earlier. It should be at my place any minute now."

"I guess I'll see you around then." Kirito replied.

"Yep. Thanks for showing me around." Klein told him. "See ya later, Kirito."

With that, Klein waved his hand and caused his holographic menu screen to appear. But as he scrolled down to the bottom, a look of distress appeared on his face.

"Hey! What gives?" Klein explained. "I don't see any logout option on my menu!"

"What?" Kirito responded.

"Hey, are you able to log out?" Klein asked.

Kirito checked his own menu screen. Just like Klein's, the logout option was absent. A feeling of anxiety rose from the pit of his stomach.

"Looks like it's the same with me too." Kirito admitted.

"Oh man, this is bad!" a panicked Klein declared.

"Don't panic! Maybe we can get in touch with a game master and ask to get unplugged from the game." Kirito suggested.

"I'm trying, but I can't seem to get in touch with anyone." Klein informed him. "I know! Maybe if I can get the helmet off."

Klein began making the motions of a person trying to take off a helmet, but it wasn't working. He began to jump, hoping that it would somehow help. But all he ended up doing was falling on his butt.

"That won't work." Kirito told him. "The NerveGear intercepts the signals from your brain. Trying to take it off in here won't do any good."

"So what the hell are we supposed to do?" Klein asked.

"All we can do is wait until one of the GMs notices the glitch and does something about it." Kirito answered.

Suddenly the air was filled with the sound of chiming bells. Soon after both Kirito and Klein were teleported away in flashes of blue light and materialized back in the Starting City. They were not alone though. It seemed that every other player in the game had been teleported there as well. Hovering in the sky above were several holographic screens. All of them read that a special announcement was about to be made. Suddenly appearing above was a massive hooded figure clad in red robes. His face was impossible to make out.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba." The hooded figure announced with an echoing voice. "I welcome you to my world. By now, many of you have noticed something missing from the main menu, the logout option. This is not a glitch, but one of the features of this game. As of now, you are all trapped."

"Is he serious?" Klein asked.

"There is no use trying to escape." Kayaba continued. "Forcibly removing the Nervegear helmet will destroy the player's brain. The helmets also have their own internal power source, so cutting the power is also not an option."

"Is… is that really possible?" Klein asked Kirito.

"Well, the NerveGear's transmitter pretty much acts like a microwave. So yeah, it's possible." Kirito confirmed.

"I have already informed the outside world of what I've done." Kayaba continued. "But some have ignored my warning. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players have now lost their lives."

The holographic screens in the air changed to show news broadcasts of what the media was now dubbing the MWO incident. One of the broadcasts even listed the names of the players that had already died.

"Now that the world has been made fully aware of the deaths, there is little chance that anyone else will try to remove the helmets. I am also allowing the outside world a two-hour period for players to be relocated to hospitals." Kayaba informed them. "I have also removed the revival system from this game. Therefore, when a player dies in the game, their avatar will be forever lost. Not only that, the NerveGear will destroy that player's brain. There is one way out of this game. Defeat the Floor Boss of each dungeon and you will advance to the next level. When the final boss is defeated on the one-hundredth floor is defeated, the game will be cleared."

"So… we have to clear the entire game in order to get out?" Klein realized.

"Even I've never made it through all one hundred levels of this game." Kirito admitted.

"And now, if you will all look at your item menus, you'll see that I have left a gift in everyone's inventory." Kayaba told them.

Kirito and all the other players looked at their item inventories and noticed a single new item, a mirror. As soon as Kirito look at himself in this mirror, the image of the blue-haired young man that was his avatar changed into the fourteen year old black-haired young man that was his actual appearance. He had even changed to his actual height. Though he still had on his avatar's outfit of a blue and white long-sleeved shirt with brown leather chest armor and long dark pants. Kitito was not the only player to make this transformation. Every other player in the game took on his or her actual form as well. Many female players became male and a few of the male players became female, much to their shame and embarrassment.

"Is that you Kirito?" a familiar voice asked.

Kirito looked to his right and saw a young man who had somewhat wild reddish-brown hair and the beginnings of a beard on his chin. From his outfit, Kirito recognized who the young man was.

"Klein?" a surprised Kirito responded.

"Yeah." The young man confirmed. "How the heck is this even possible?"

"Well the NerveGear does a scan of the person who puts it on." Kirito answered. "But I don't know how it could've gotten our height."

"Hey, remember when you put the thing on it asked you to calibrate it by touching your body?" Klein recalled. "I think that's how."

"By now I'm sure many of you are wondering why I, Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of _Monster World Online_ and the NerveGear, do all of this?" Kayaba continued. "The answer is simple. I wanted to create a world that I could control. That is why I created _Monster World Online_. This concludes this tutorial."

With that, the hooded figure of Kayaba and his holographic screens vanished. There was silence for a moment, but soon mass panic erupted in the Starting City. Kirito and Klein quickly ducked into a nearby alley as things started to go out of control.

"Oh man, this is nuts!" Klein declared. "What the hell are we supposed to do?"

"There's only one thing we can do. Clear the game." Kirito told him. "We don't have a lot of resources where we are now. Our best bet is to get to the next village as soon as possible."

"I can't go with you, Kirito." Klein told him. "I've got friends in this game from the real world. I have to help them."

Kirito didn't like the idea of bringing more than one player with him. As it was, he knew he could protect at least one person. But protecting a group was more than he could manage at the moment. It would be his fault if Klein or any of his friends died.

"Hey Kirito? You go on ahead on your own." Klein told him. "Don't worry about me. I'll teach my friends everything you taught me, and we'll make our own way through this game."

"You sure?" Kirito asked.

"I'll be just fine." Klein instead. "Just do me a favor and don't die on me, okay?"

"Okay. But you better not die on me either." Kirito told him before running further into the alley.

"Hey Kirito!" Klein called, causing him to stop. "I gotta say, that girly face of yours is a better fit on you than that old avatar you had. If you were a girl, I wouldn't mind asking you out."

"Yeah? Well I think that scruffy mug of yours suits you a lot better than that other face you had." Kirito told him. "See ya around."

With that, Kirito continued out of the alley. It wasn't long before he was out of the city. As he ran down the dirt path, images of his younger sister flashed through his mind.

_'If I die in this game… I die in real life!'_ Kirito mentally realized.

Suddenly a wolf with silver fur and yellow eyes materialized on the path and began to run towards him. Kirito recognized the creature as a Silver Fang, a fairly low-level monster. With a few tears in his eyes, Kirito unsheathed his sword. The blade began to glow as he changed at the creature.

_'I'll definitely… survive this world!'_ Kirito declared as he sliced the wolf in half.

* * *

In another alley in Starting City, another group of players was trying to figure out what to do. There were four of them, three young men and a young woman. The first and shortest of the three was a young man who called himself Yugi, who had odd black and red star-shaped hair and blonde locks that hung down around his face, and hanging from his neck was a gold pendant in the shape of an inverted pyramid with a strange eye-like symbol on the front. The second player, who called himself Joey in the game, had long blonde hair and was clad in a grey long-sleeved shirt with brown leather chest armor and long black pants. The third player of the group was a young man who called himself Honda in the game and had oddly-shaped brown hair and an iron-grey pistol hanging from his belt. And the final player was a young woman who called herself Anzu, who had short brown hair and was clad in blue robes and a blue conical hat.

"Crap!" Joey cursed as his fist against the wall of the building, causing an Immortal Object icon to appear. "How the hell do we keep getting into these messes?"

"I'd like to know where Bakura ran off to." Honda pointed out. "He shows us how to play this game, then he tells us he forgot something and leaves."

"There's something else that's bothering me a little too guys." Yugi interjected as he took hold of his pendant. "How is it that my Millennium Puzzle has shown up in this game?"

Suddenly Anzu fell to her knees as tears began to stream down her face. "This… this is too much! I wanna go home!"

"Don't worry, Anzu. We'll figure something out." Honda assured her. "Just try and keep it together, okay?"

Honda's words seemed of little comfort to Anzu. Suddenly Yugi's Millennium Puzzle began to rotate on its chain and he became bathed in a golden light. The light faded and Yugi had grown a little taller and the features of his face had changed.

"Don't cry, Anzu." Yugi spoke in a deeper voice than before as he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Yugi." Anzu responded as she looked up at him.

"I don't know what Akihiko Kayaba is up to, but he won't get away with it!" Yugi declared. "No matter how difficult this game is if we work together we will win!"

* * *

Kayaba watched from the other side of a mirror hanging in what looked like a castle throne room with red walls. Sitting on the golden throne was Bakura. He was clad in a long red coat with silver chest armor, a black shirt, long blue pants, and black boots. His Millennium Ring was hanging from his neck. Before the white-haired young man were several holographic screens that showed different areas of the first floor of the game.

While Kayaba wasn't sure just who or what Bakura was, the only thing he was certain of was that he wasn't a normal human being. The fact that he was a disembodied soul trapped in a virtual game seemed to prove that fact. But whatever sort of being Bakura was, Kayaba could tell that he was evil. Bakura was laughing at the chaos the tutorial announcement had caused. Kayaba had anticipated that the true nature of his game would cause panic at first, but for him it was not a laughing matter.

Bakura stopped laughing and looked over at Kayaba's mirror. "It was so nice of you to create that little tutorial program of yours. It makes things so much easier for me."

"So I'm to be the scapegoat for whatever it is you're trying to do." Kayaba observed.

"Now, now. You are the one who came up with this little scheme." Bakura reminded him. "I'm merely giving you the credit you deserve. Besides, it's better for me if Yugi and his friends think that you're the mastermind behind this."

"All this for one young man?" Kayaba asked. "You do realize that while this may be a game, there are actual lives involved."

"You mortals mean nothing to me." Bakura told him. "The other players in this game are merely potential pawns for me to use to achieve my ultimate goal."

"And what happens if you achieve this goal of yours?" Kayaba asked.

"All that matters is beating Yugi and winning this game." Bakura answered. "What happens to all the other players doesn't matter to me a bit."

* * *

**Author's Note:** A few of these chapters will be following some of the episodes of the SAO anime. Though there will be a few changes here and there. Also, Yugi and his friends will be playing a fairly small roll in these first few chapters. As for the creatures from the _Duel Monsters_ card game appearing in this story, some of them will be taking the place of some of the floor bosses from SAO. And there will be at least two creatures that'll be showing up to help the heroes.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	3. Rise of the Black Swordsman

**Author's Note:** I forgot to mention one little thing in my note at the end of the last chapter. Some of you reading may have noticed that Tea and Tristan were referred to by their original names from the manga and Japanese version of the anime, Anzu and Honda, though Joey's name from the dub was used. Part of the reason for this was to further distinguish this story from my other Yu-Gi-Oh! related stories. Joey's name from the dub being used is a reference to the Monster World arc from the manga, where Joey was the name of the character he used in the game.

**Disclaimer:** I do not Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 2: Rise of the Black Swordsman

The day was December second, 2022. Almost a month had passed since the start of MWO. In that short time, two thousand players had already died. Yet the first floor had still not been cleared. The one upside to everything was that most of the players had finally accepted their current situation and had been working towards clearing the game. But everyone knew that there was a very long way to go.

As Kirito passed through a small town called Tolbana, he heard news that the boss room of the first floor dungeon had been located. A meeting was being held in the town center to discuss how to attack the boss and finally clear the first floor, and those interested in joining the attack were requested to attend. Upon his arrival at the meeting, Kirito saw that the gathering of players at the coliseum was fairly small but not overly so. The one leading the meeting was a young man with fairly long blue hair and was wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt and bronze armor covering his chest, shoulders, and shins. On his back was a white shield with a grey sword-like shape painted on it.

"Thank you all for coming." The young man spoke as he addressed the group. "I am Diavel, a knight. As many of you know, the reason this meeting is being held is because the boss room of this floor's dungeon has finally been found. The time has come for us to plan our attack and take the first step towards clearing this game. We should all start by forming parties to attack the boss."

Kirito panicked a bit as the other players around him began forming into groups. Ever since leaving Klein behind in Starting City, Kirito had been playing solo. He had no one to form a party with. Turing to his right however, Kirito saw a young woman wearing a brown hooded cloak sitting near him.

"Uh, hi there." Kirito spoke, getting the girl's attention. "You wanna form a party with me."

A holographic screen showing Kirito's party invitation appeared before the girl. Silently she pressed the button to accept the invitation. Kirito saw her HP gauge appear below his and learned from it that the girl's name was Asuna.

"Just hold on a minute!" one of the players interrupted as he stood up.

The player in question was a man with spiked orange hair and patch of orange hair on his chin. His outfit consisted of an off-white shirt with brown pants and iron-grey chest armor. Hanging from his back by a strap was a sword.

"You're called Kibaou, right?" Diavel asked the player. "I take it have something to say?"

"You're damn right I do!" Kibaou confirmed as he turned to face the rest of the group. "I have a feeling that there are beta testers here at this meeting! Those jerks left the rest of us beginners to die while they used what they knew about this game to save themselves! If there are any beta testers at this meeting, I say they should give up their money and items right now! Otherwise, how can we be expected to trust them?"

"Now just hold on!" another voice interrupted before anyone had a chance to agree with Kibaou.

Walking down through the stands was a tall dark-skinned man with a shaved head and a small beard on his chin. He had on a blue short-sleeved shirt with dark-brown pants, and a piece of grey armor on his left shoulder.

"Who the hell are you?" Kibaou demanded to know.

"The name's Agil." The man replied. "And you shouldn't blame the beta testers for everything. They've already helped the other players by making the information about this floor available to everyone in the form of guidebooks. I'm sure everyone here has one."

With that, Agil held up a small brown book for everyone to view. Diavel and most of the other players at the meeting produced their own copies of the same tome. Kibaou sat back down, silently admitting that he had a copy of the same book.

"Thank you for helping to settle this matter, Agil." Diavel spoke. "And on that note, this guidebook has information on the boss of this floor. According to the book, the boss is a one-eyed giant called Sengenjin. Sengenjin has several weapons that he carries on his back, and minions called Hitotsu-Me Giants. When Sengenjin gets down to his final bit of HP, he gets rid of all his weapons except for a large golden axe. We'll make our raid against the boss tomorrow morning. I suggest you all use this time to rest and prepare."

With that, the meeting ended and everyone scattered into the town. Night fell, and Asuna had sat down on a bench outside to eat the single loaf of bread that was her dinner. Kirito sat down right next to her with his own loaf of bread in hand, but Asuna quickly scooted over to create a gap between them.

"Here, try this." Kirito offered as he produced a small round jar full of a white substance similar to cream.

Asuna dipped a couple of fingers into the jar and used them to taste the cream. "Tastes good."

"I got it as a prize for completing a quest awhile back." Kirito informed her. "I can show you a little trick with the cream than can make this bread taste a lot better."

"I didn't come here to enjoy the food." Asuna coldly informed him. "I came here because I want to stay myself as long as I can and not just waste away in Starting City and become someone else. I'm going to fight and stay myself for as long as I can, even if it means I die."

"I wouldn't want it to come to that." Kirito told her. "I don't want any member of my party dying on me. So try and stay alive, okay?"

"…Okay." Asuna finally responded.

* * *

Bakura sat on his throne with a wicked grin on his face. In front of him was a holographic screen showing the raiding party. Morning had come, and the team was making its way through the forest towards the dungeon.

"So, some of these players have finally summoned up the nerve to challenge the first boss." Bakura observed. "A pity Yugi and his friends aren't with them. But it should still be quite the show."

"Are you hoping that they'll all die?" Kayaba asked from his mirror.

"Not at all. In fact I'm hoping that they'll make it past the first boss." Bakura admitted. "This will give me a chance to see which players are the strongest."

"What do you hope to do with this information?" Kayaba asked.

"Every player in this game is merely a piece on a board." Bakura replied. "Pieces that I can use to my advantage."

"So you hope this next battle will help you find the strongest pieces." Kayaba deduced. "You truly are a wicked creature."

"It's a pity those fools are relying solely on the information from those little guidebooks of theirs." Bakura remarked. "They don't know about all the little improvements that have been made to this game since the beta tests."

* * *

After what seemed like an hour and a half of walking through the forest, the raiding party finally made it to the first dungeon. On the way there, Kirito and Asuna had discussed strategies they could use to take down the boss and his minions. The players made their way through the labyrinth until they arrived at the large chamber that was the boss room. As soon as they entered, the walls of the chamber began to glow with a strange blue light. The boss, Sengenjin, materialized in the middle of the room an instant later.

The creature stood at about fifteen feet tall and had a muscular build. Its skin was blue and it had a head of wild long red hair. Sengenjin's face consisted of a single red eye and a large mouth filled with fangs. His outfit consisted of a short grey toga and a green bag slung over his shoulder with a thick band covered in green spikes. The creature also had on orange shoes and spiked pieces of golden shoulder armor. Mounted on his back were several large golden weapons.

Four HP gauges appeared by the creature as soon as it appeared. After drawing a large golden sword from his back and raising it in the air, Sengenjin roared and at least thrity smaller monsters dropped down from the ceiling. The creatures had hairless green skin and pointed ears. Each of the monsters had a face made up of a single red eye and a mouth full of short fangs. The minions all had on tattered brown togas and carried large wooden clubs.

"Remember the plan!" Diavel told the others. "The main party and I will attack the boss while the rest of you handle the minions! Let's go!"

With that, the raiding party charged at the oncoming hoard Cyclopes monsters. Diavel and his party charged through the hoard towards Sengenjin while Kirito and the others handled his minions. In mere seconds the boss room became a sea of chaos. The few magic users on the team of players were easily able to damage the Hitotsu-Me Giants with low-level attack spells, but the creatures had the advantage of sheer numbers on their side. Diavel and his group meanwhile were managing to do a fair bit of damage to Sengenjin with sword attacks to his legs. Though at the same time, they had to dodge the giant's monster strength and massive golden sword.

After Kirito killed what seemed like his sixth Hitotsu-Me Giant by cutting it in half with a horizontal slash, Kirito switched out with Asuna in order to take a moment and rest. In what seemed like thirty seconds, Asuna quickly managed to destroy two more of the beasts with quick strikes from her sword. Kirito was simply amazed by her speed. Eventually all the Hitotsu-Me Giants had been destroyed. Though the players knew that it was only a matter of time before the hoard respawned and launched another attack. The battle would not truly be over until Sengenjin was destroyed.

With the minions dealt with, the rest of the raiding party joined in on the attack against Sengenjin. Before long the combined attacks of the raiding party had gotten the giant's final HP gauge had finally dropped down to the red zone.

"Stand back, everyone!" Diavel ordered. "I'll finish this myself."

Sengenjin growled and dropped his golden sword, causing it to shatter into polygons of blue light. The giant reached back and grabbed the handle of one of his other golden weapons. The rest of them fell off his back and shattered apart. Suddenly Kirito noticed that something was wrong. One of the weapons that had fallen off the giant's back was his axe, which meant that it was using another weapon to attack.

The weapon in question was a spiked ball attacked to a chain on the end of the long handle. It was a flail. Kirito tried to say something to stop Diavel. But the self-appointed knight had already begun his charge at the beast. Sengenjin swung the giant weapon over his head before bringing it down to slam into Diavel from the right, taking out a large chunk of his HP. Diavel managed to get back up after the attack, but the spiked ball swung back around from the left, knocking him into the wall.

Kirito rushed over to Diavel's side. The blue-haired warrior's HP was dropping to nothing.

"Here! Let me use this healing potion on you." Kirito quickly offered as he got to his knees.

"Don't bother." Diavel told him. "Damn. That flail wasn't in the beta."

"So, you're a beta tester." Kirito observed. "You went after the boss alone so you could get the last attack bonus item."

Diavel merely smiled weakly at Kirito. "Do me… a favor. Beat the boss… save everyone."

With that, Diavel shattered apart into polygons of blue light. Kirito rose back to his feet. He realized what was at stake. From the beginning of the game, he had been fighting only for his own survival. Yet Diavel, who had also been a beta tester, had always fought to help the other players. Now it was up to him to save the lives of the rest of raiding party.

"Asuna, back me up." Kirito requested. "We're going to end this now!"

Asuna nodded to Kirito and the two charged at Sengenjin. The giant swung his flail towards Kirito from the right, forcing him to roll out of the way. After barely managing to dodge the attack, Kirito continued his charge and slashed Sengenjin in the chest right as he began swinging his flail in the air again. Kirito switched out with Asuna after the attack. The giant attempted to hit Asuna with a flail strike from the left. Asuna quickly dodged the attack, though her cloak was destroyed, revealing she had long orange-brown hair. Her outfit was made up of a red shirt and copper breastplate with leather pants and knee-high boots.

The swordswoman struck Sengenjin in the side with her blade, causing his HP to drop just a little bit more. Suddenly Sengenjin's flail hit Asuna from the right and knocked her into Kirito just as they were swapping out again. The two hit the ground hard as their HP went down into the red. The giant then swung his weapon to deliver the final blow. But just as the spiked ball was about to hit, Agil rushed in and shielded the two with his back. His HP dropped down into the red.

"Are you okay?" a concerned Kirito asked.

"I'll be fine." Agil assured him. "You two just take a minute to rest and heal up. The rest of us will keep this guy busy."

With that, much of the raiding party resumed its attack on Sengenjin. The Cyclops attacked them with his flail, but the players had become familiar with the pattern of his attacks and easily dodged each one. Meanwhile, two of the magic users on the team, a male and a female, used low-level healing spells on Kirito and Asuna to help them recover some of their HP. Once both their HP gauges were back up to more than half, the duo charged back into battle. Asuna hit Sengenjin with another strike to the chest and swapped out with Kirito.

Kirito jumped high into the air and cut Sengenjin in half with a final slash from his sword. The two halves shattered apart into a massive explosion of polygons and the walls of the room went dark. As Kirito hit the ground on one knee, a holographic screen appeared before him to deliver the message that he had won an item called the Coat of Midnight. With the boss defeated, the far wall of the chamber opened up to reveal a staircase that led to the next floor. The raiding party began to rejoice.

"Just hold on a minute!" Kibaou interrupted, bringing the celebration to a halt. "You all seem to be forgetting that Diavel's dead! He's dead because that Kirito guy held back that he knew that the boss's attack pattern had changed! And there's only one way he could've known that. He's a beta tester!"

Everyone seemed quite surprised by this revelation. The other players began to talk amongst themselves. Many of them had also noticed that Kirito knew something was wrong when Sengenjin's final attack began.

"Who knows how many other beta testers are here among us right now." Kibaou continued. "For all we know, they're holding back all kinds of secrets about this game!"

Many of the other players began to look at each other with suspicion. Asuna and Agil attempted to say something, but before they could Kirito suddenly burst into laughter.

"Me, a beta tester? Don't compare me to those newbies." Kirito told them as he got back to his feet. "Most of the thousand beta testers for this game were beginners who didn't even know how to level up. Even you guys are much better than they are. But I'm not like any of them. I made it way further in this game than any of them ever did. The reason I knew the boss's attack pattern is because of the monsters on the higher floors. I know way more about this game than any information broker!"

Many of the players in the raiding party were shocked by Kirito's claim. Many of them began to look at Kirito with hatred and disgust.

"So he's a beta tester…" one of the players spoke. "And a cheater!"

"A beater!" another player added.

"A beater, huh?" Kirito spoke with an evil-looking smirk. "Yeah… I like the sound of that. Fine then! I'm a beater! So from now one, don't lump me together with the other beta testers!"

Kirito accessed his menu screen and equipped himself with the item he had won from his battle with Sengenjin, causing a long black coat to appear on him. He then turned and headed up the stairs to the next floor of the game.

"Wait!" Asuna called, causing him to stop and look back. "How is it that you knew my name? I never told it to you before."

"Look at the interface for the party screen." Kirito told her.

Asuna looked and saw that Kirito's HP gauge was below hers. "Oh, so your name's Kirito. I'm so dumb for not noticing that it was there the whole time."

"You're a pretty strong player, Asuna." Kirito told her. "But there are limits to what a solo player can do in this game. If someone from a strong guild that you can trust asks you to join, you should do it." With that, Kirito accessed his menu screen again and dissolved his party with Asuna before continuing up the stairs.

* * *

Bakura chuckled on his throne as he watched the holographic screen in front of him. The whole battle with Sengenjin had played out before his eyes. Including the aftermath where Kirito had claimed himself as a beater.

"How amusing." Bakura commented. "That boy made himself into a villain in order to protect the other beta testers and keep chaos from breaking out."

"So did you find out what you were hoping to learn?" Kayaba asked.

"Indeed I did." Bakura confirmed with a grin. "Those two players, Kirito and Asuna, are very strong indeed. They'll make the perfect pawns to use for killing Yugi."

* * *

**Author's Note:** This ended up being kind of a hard chapter for me to write. For one thing, I sometimes have trouble with writing full-scale battles like the one between the players and the hoard of monsters that appeared. Another issue I was having was trying to find a way to make this chapter different from the anime episode it's based on. The only real way I could see to do that besides adding the scenes with Bakura and Kayaba was to change the boss monster that appeared. Sengenjin is of course a monster from the _Duel Monsters_ card game. It's a fairly high-level card with relatively high stats and no effects. And I'm sure a few reading will recall the Hitotsu-Me Giant from Yugi's first duel with Kaiba.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Dragon Tamer

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 3: Dragon Tamer

It was the day of February sixteenth, 2023. Asuna was traveling through a shady forest on the twenty-fifth floor. She had grown accustomed to life within the virtual world she had become trapped in. Yet the one thing that drove Asuna was clearing the game as fast as possible. As a result, Asuna spent much of time raising her level as fast as she could. The twenty-fifth floor's dungeon had yet to be cleared, and there were still seventy-five more floors to go. Asuna needed to be as strong as she could if she was going to survive.

As the noonday sun began to rise into the sky, Asuna headed out of the forest. But just as she reached the forest's outer edge, she heard something approaching from her left. Asuna immediately drew her sword and stood ready to attack. The creature that came out of the trees was a brown minotaur-like creature clade in red and gold armor. In its right hand it carried a large steel axe. Asuna recognized the creature as a Battle Ox. She had slain others like it many times before.

The Battle Ox charged at Asuna and swung his axe, but Asuna quickly jumped back to avoid the attack. She charged back in and moved to her right just as the creature swung his weapon again. The blade of her sword glowed with a pink light as Asuna struck the creature several times in the chest. The Battle Ox cried out before shattering apart into polygons made of blue light. With the creature slain, Asuna sheathed her sword and continued out of the forest.

Only seconds after leaving the trees, Asuna got an alert that she had gotten a Private Message. The message was from a friend of hers called Lisbeth, a blacksmith that she had met not long ago. Lisbeth's message asked Asuna to come down to her shop on the twenty-third floor, saying that a certain item had been completed. Knowing very well what the item in question was Asuna got out a blue teleport crystal. Within seconds, Asuna beamed down to a small town on the twenty-third floor.

Asuna made her way through the village until she came to a small stone building on the outskirts of town. Smoke was rising out of the black pipe chimney on the roof, and hanging by the door was a wooden sign that read, _Lisbeth's Armory_. Asuna opened the door and went inside, causing the bell above the door to ring. The inside of the shop was small yet quaint. There was a small front desk and the wooden walls were decorated with various swords and other weapons on display. As soon as Asuna entered the shop, a young woman emerged from the backroom. She had short pink hair and wore a red and white dress with a long skirt that resembled a waitress uniform. Asuna recognized the young lady as Lisbeth, and she was a little surprised by her appearance.

"Hi Asuna." Lisbeth greeted with a cheerful expression.

"Uh, hi Liz." A still somewhat surprised Asuna greeted back. "What happened to your hair? It used to be brown."

"Oh, I guess it's hard not to notice, huh?" Lisbeth realized. "I just decided to dye it. Looks pretty good, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it actually suits you pretty well." Asuna agreed. "Certainly looks better than that time I turned my hair pink."

"So, I guess you got my message." Lisbeth deduced as she went behind the front desk. "I just finished it this morning."

Lisbeth placed on the desk a rapier with a green handle and a silver ring-shaped crossguard with a blue gem on the front. Asuna picked up the sword and removed it from its red sheath to examine the blade. She swung it a few times in the air to test the weight and balance.

"I think this is your best work yet, Liz." Asuna told her.

"I thought you'd like it." The pink-haired blacksmith replied. "The sword's called Lambent Light. It should be a lot better than the other rapiers you've been using."

"This should help me a lot, Liz. Thanks." Asuna responded as she sheath and attached it to her belt.

"Happy to help." Lisbeth told her. "So, what have you been up to today?"

"Pretty much the usual." Asuna answered. "I spent this morning in a forest on Floor Twenty-five fighting monsters so I could raise my level."

"Have you ever thought about just taking the day off to relax?" Lisbeth asked.

"I can't afford to do that, Liz." Asuna told her as her expression turned serious. "Every second we spend in this world is another we lose in the real world. That's why I have to work as hard as I can to clear this game."

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that logic." Lisbeth admitted with a sigh. "Still Asuna, you shouldn't push yourself so hard."

Before Asuna could respond, the door of the shop opened causing the bell to ring. Walking in was a man with pale skin, stringy grey hair, and a rather gloomy-looking face. His outfit consisted of a white suit of armor with red markings and a white cape.

"Can I help you?" Lisbeth asked the stranger.

"Is one of you the young women the one they call Lightning Flash Asuna?" the stranger asked.

"I'm Asuna." The orange-brown haired swordswoman replied. "Who're you?"

"I am Kuradeel, a member of the Knights of the Blood Oath." The stranger explained. "The leader of my guild wishes to speak with you. If you'll please come with me."

"Uh, could you give us a second?" Lisbeth requested before pulling Asuna aside.

"What's wrong, Liz?" Asuna quietly asked.

"I don't think you should go with that guy, Asuna." Lisbeth whispered. "He looks creepy."

"Yeah, but who knows what he might do if I don't go with him?" Asuna pointed out. "He might wreck your shop, and you've worked too hard to get this place running. Besides, I've heard a little about this guild this guy's with. They're pretty respected. It may not hurt to go with him."

"Asuna, are you sure?" Lisbeth asked.

"Don't worry Liz, I'll be fine." Asuna assured her.

"Well… okay. Just be careful." Lisbeth told her before they both turned back to their visitor.

"Are you two finished?" Kuradeel asked.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Asuna replied. "I'll hear what the leader of your guild has to say."

With that, Asuna left Lisbeth's shop with Kuradeel. A few moments later they had teleported up to a fairly large city on the twenty-fifth floor. Once there, Asuna followed Kuradeel to a fairly large white mansion near the center of town. By each side of the door was a red banner that indicated that the building was the headquarters of the Knights of the Blood Oath. Kuradeel led Asuna inside and after heading upstairs they proceeded down a long hallway.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, just who is the leader of this guild?" Asuna asked.

"He's actually somewhat famous in the real world." Kuradeel revealed. "Not only is he a master gamer, he owns one of the largest game companies in Japan."

Kuradeel's description caused Asuna to stop for a moment. She had a feeling she knew whom Kuradeel was talking about, yet she found it hard to believe that someone like him would be trapped inside MWO.

"We're here." Kuradeel told Asuna as they came to a door at the end of the hallway.

Kuradeel opened the door and the two of them went in. The large room was set up like an office, with a large wooden desk and chair placed in front of a large window. The chair was positioned so that whoever was sitting in it was looking outside.

"What is it?" the occupant of the chair asked.

"Forgive the intrusion, Commander Kaiba. But I brought the girl you asked to see." Kuradeel explained.

"Very well. Leave us." The one called Kaiba ordered.

Kuradeel bowed and left the office, shutting the door behind him. The chair behind the desk turned around, revealing that the one sitting in it was a young man with brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He had on a long sleeveless red coat and a black long-sleeved shirt with a white cross on the front. Asuna immediately recognized who the young man was. She had seen his face a few times in the real world.

"You're… Seto Kaiba." Asuna identified.

At this, Kaiba chuckled a bit. "So, once again my reputation proceeds me even in this game. I take it you're another fan."

"Actually, I mostly know about you because my dad is an executive at your company." Asuna admitted. "But… I'm a little surprised to see someone like you in this game."

"Believe me, this wasn't something I had planed on." Kaiba told her. "I merely wished to test this game and the NerveGear for myself. I had actually been trying to perfect technology myself for years, but Akihiko Kayaba beat me to the punch. And now I'm forced to play this twisted little game of his."

"So, what is it that you want with me?" Asuna asked.

"I've heard a good deal about you, Ms. Asuna." Kaiba informed her. "You played an instrumental role in defeating the boss of first floor dungeon, Sengenjin. Your speed stat is far above average, and you have a talent for raising your level at an astounding rate. My guild could use a player with a talent like yours."

"You want me to join your guild?" Asuna asked.

"Frankly, if I had my way I'd play this game alone." Kaiba admitted. "But the only way to win a game like this is with an army, and the stakes are too high for me to take risks. I'm going to crush this game and make Akihiko Kayaba regret ever starting it! And to do that, I'm going to need the strongest players in this game to help me do that! So if you want to survive this game, then join me!"

Asuna was surprised that someone like Seto Kaiba was asking her to join his guild. She remembered the advice that Kirito had given her after they defeated Sengenjin about how she should join a guild she could trust if asked. So far no such guild had asked her. At least no guild who's people she could fully trust. But she knew of Kaiba's reputation and believed someone like him could easily clear the game.

"Okay, I'll join your guild." Asuna finally agreed.

"Very well." Kaiba agreed with a grin. "But before we make things official, I want to give you a trial run so I can see your abilities for myself. There's a mountain range on this floor that has a cave containing a powerful dragon. You're going to accompany a few others and myself on a quest to that cave. We leave in an hour, so get ready."

An hour past and Asuna left with Kaiba and ten other member of the guild for the mountains. Among these ten were Kuradeel and a man with balding red hair and a beard that Asuna had learned was named Godfrey. The journey to the mountains had taken most of the afternoon. Kaiba, who had since changed into a suit of white armor along with his sleeveless red coat, led the team towards the cave while Asuna took up the rear with Godfrey and Kuradeel.

"Uh, Mr. Godfrey, sir?" Asuna spoke. "Mind if I asked you a question?"

"Fire away, Asuna." Godfrey replied in a jolly manner.

"Why is it that Commander Kaiba is after this dragon?" Asuna asked. "Is he going to try and slay it?"

"You'd think so, but no." Godfrey revealed. "The commander is going to try and tame this dragon."

"Tame it?" Asuna repeated. "Is that even possible?"

"There are certain players in the warrior class that have a rare skill that allows them to tame certain monsters to use in battle." Godfrey explained. "The commander is one of those players. So he's been working to raise that skill to maximum so he can tame the legendary dragon that's supposed to be living in this cave."

At last the party reached the vast mouth of the cave. The inside appeared to be pitch-black.

Kaiba turned to face his soldiers. "I'll be going in alone. The rest of you will stay here and stand guard."

"How long will you be, sir?" Godfrey asked.

"It's hard to say." Kaiba replied. "But I'll be back when I can. In the meantime, I need the rest of you to stay here and keep any rogue monsters from coming in here."

"You can count on us, sir." Godfrey assured him.

Kaiba nodded and went into the cave alone. Asuna and the others waited for him for what seemed like an hour. The sun was beginning over the horizon. Everything had been quiet until Asuna heard footsteps coming from the path to the right of the cave mouth. She immediately reached for her sword, alerting the others. The creature that emerged from around the corner of the path was a humanoid tiger clad in blue armor. In its hands it carried a large axe with a long wooden handle.

"A Tiger Axe!" Godfrey identified.

"Look!" one of the other party members exclaimed.

Five more of the axe-wielding tigers approached from the path that they had used to reach the cave. At the same time, six more of the beasts had joined the first one that had appeared from the other end of the path. They had been boxed in.

"What the hell are all these Tiger Axes doing together like this?" Kuradeel wondered.

"Never mind that!" Godfrey told him as he drew his sword. "Let's just take care of them before they kill us!"

With that, the Tiger Axe hoard roared and charged at the party members from both ends of the path. Asuna unsheathed her sword and stabbed the first Tiger Axe that came at her in the stomach. As she removed her blade, the wounded creature fell over the side of the path and shattered to polygons. A second of the creatures came at her and swung his axe towards her head. Asuna quickly ducked out of the way and struck the creature several times in the chest, causing it to shatter apart. A third Tiger Axe came at her and tried to bring his weapon onto the top of her head. Asuna managed to move out of the way, but the blade caught the edge of her arm, causing her HP to drop slightly.

Once Asuna recovered, she slashed the feline warrior in the face, causing it to growl in pain. Before the beast could recover, Asuna struck it in the chest several times. The Tiger Axe shattered apart, but two more quickly took its place. The numbers of the beasts seemed endless.

"Go forth, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" a familiar voice commanded from behind. Asuna and a few of the others in the party turned around to see Kaiba standing in the mouth of the cave.

Suddenly Asuna was nearly knocked to the ground by a gust of wind created by something large flying out of the cave. The hoard of Tiger Axes suddenly froze and looked up with expressions of terror. Hovering above them all was a magnificent bluish-white dragon with stunning blue eyes. It was both beautiful and frightening to behold.

"Blue-Eyes! Destroy these pathetic beasts!" Kaiba ordered. "Burst Stream of Destruction!"

The Tiger Axe hoard began to run away in fear. But the white dragon opened its mouth and obliterated the beasts on Asuna's end of the path with a stream of white electrical energy. The dragon then turned its head and vaporized the other half of the hoard in one shot. Kaiba laughed in triumph as the creatures were destroyed. Asuna and the others meanwhile looked on in awe.

"Commander, that was… amazing!" Godfrey declared.

Kaiba seemed to ignore the comment and walked up to Asuna. "You fought well. I saw you in action as I walked out of the cave. Someone like you would be a good addition to my guild. So I'm going to ask you again, will you join me?"

"…Yes." Asuna answered after a moment.

"Then welcome aboard." Kaiba told her as she shook her hand. "Together we'll crush this game."

* * *

Kuradeel rode his black horse through a field under the night sky. Up ahead was a cave in the side of small hill. He could see the torches that had been lit by the entrance. The cave was the headquarters of his true guild, Laughing Coffin. Upon reaching the cave, Kuradeel dismounted his horse. Standing by the cave's entrance were two men in black hooded cloaks.

"Hello, Kuradeel." One of the hooded men greeted. "How's our favorite spy?"

"I have an urgent report for the master." Kuradeel informed the two. "Is he in?"

"You're timing's pretty good." The other hooded man told him. "He just got back from a little job. Go on in. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you."

Kuradeel nodded and walked inside. In the center of the cave was a man sitting on some kind of throne. His face was hidden by the darkness.

"Well Kuradeel, I assume that you have a good reason for coming all the way out here." The person sitting in the throne spoke.

Kuradeel kneeled before the man on the throne. "I have news, Lord Bakura. The girl you asked some of us to keep an eye on has just joined the Knight's of the Blood Oath."

Bakura chuckled as he got up from his throne and walked into the dim light produced by the torches in the cave. He had on a long tattered black coat with black chest armor, a dark-brown shirt, long blue pants, and dirty black boots. On his belt was a silver buckle in the shape of a skull.

"Well, this certainly is an interesting development." Bakura declared. "At the very least, it makes it easier to keeps tabs on her. I think we're going to be having a lot more dealings with the Knights of the Blood Oath than we thought."

"If I may ask, my lord. What is it that you want this girl for?" Kuradeel inquired.

"That's going to be my little secret, for now." Bakura answered. "For now let's just say that she's going to play an important role in obtaining the ultimate power."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Having Kaiba being the leader of Asuna's guild was one of the first I ideas I had when coming up with this crossover. I got the idea when a friend of mine and I were talking about an episode of SAO one evening. At one point it seemed like I was going to drop the idea when the character of Heathcliff showed up in the anime. But then we all found out that Heathcliff was actually Kayaba. And as Kayaba was going to be turned into a magic mirror in this little AU, I went back to my original idea.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	5. King of Thieves

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 4: King of Thieves

It was the night of April eighth, 2023, and Kirito had landed himself in an unexpected situation. Earlier while traveling through a forest he found a small guild being attacked by a band of monsters. After Kirito saved them, the guild insisted that he come with them to celebrate. Normally Kirito avoided socializing with other players due to his status as a beater, but after playing solo for so long he decided to make an exception. Thus he ended up going to a small inn located in a village called Taft with those who were his new friends, the Moonlit Black Cats.

There were five members of the guild in all. The leader was a young man called Keita, who had brown hair and wore a brown long-sleeved shirt and grey chest and shoulder armor. The second member of the guild was another young man called Tetsuo, who had brown hair with curved ends and wore and outfit similar to Keita's only his shirt was purple. The guild's third member was named Sasamaru and had tan skin and long brown hair. He wore an outfit similar to Keita and Tetsuo's, only his shirt was green and he had a black had with a grey upturned brim and a point on the top. Also in the guild was a young man called Ducker, who had long blonde hair and wore a black ski cap and an orange cape.

The guild's final member was a young woman called Sachi. She had blue-black almost shoulder-length hair and bright blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of a light-blue short-sleeved shirt with a piece of blue chest armor and white pants. Kirito noticed that Sachi seemed a bit shy around him.

"I can't get over how amazing you were back there, Kirito." Keita praised as Kirito took another sip of his glass. "You really saved our butts. So if you don't mind me asking, what level are you?"

At this, Kirito paused. His level was in the upper forties, but he hesitated to tell Keita and the others. He knew that if they found out what he really was they'd want nothing to do with him.

"Oh, I'm only level twenty-two." Kirito lied.

"Wow, really?" an impressed Keita replied. "That's around the level all of us are at. Hey, why don't you join our guild? Someone like you could be a major help to us. You could even help Sachi with raising her level. She could really use it."

"Oh, that's okay." Sachi nervously spoke. "You don't need to waste your time trying to help someone like me."

"C'mon Sachi, don't be so down on yourself." Tetsuo told her.

"Yeah! I'm sure you'll do great with Kirito helping you." Ducker encouragingly added.

"So Kirito, what do you say?" Keita asked.

"…I guess I could join you guys for awhile." Kirito finally agreed. "At least until you guys are strong enough to fight on your own."

"Yes! Then here's to the newest member of our guild, Kirito!" Keita praised as he raised his glass high.

* * *

Bakura watched from his throne on the hundredth floor as Kirito and his new friends celebrated. A wicked grin was on the white-haired game master's face.

"I knew sooner or later that boy's loneliness would get the better of him." Bakura spoke. "This is the chance I've been waiting for."

"So you're going ahead with this plan of yours to turn that young man into your pawn." Kayaba observed from his mirror. "Just how do you plan to do that?"

"Simple." Bakura replied. "Those new friends of his are going to help me."

* * *

It had been a month since Kirito had joined the Moonlit Black Cats. During that time his fellow guild members had gotten stronger, though they still had a ways to go before they were ready for the higher floors. Yet Kirito found that he greatly enjoyed their company. He had been alone for so long that he had almost forgotten what it was like to have friends. Despite all that though, Kirito continued to keep his true level a secret.

By night while the others were asleep, Kirito would go up to the dungeons on the higher levels alone in order to maintain his level. It was on a night when Kirito was returning from one such trip that he received an urgent message from Keita. Apparently, Sachi had run off in the middle of the night and the others were unable to find her. Using his tracking skill, Kirito managed Sachi sitting alone in the vast sewer system beneath the city.

Kirito sat down a few feet away from her. "Hey there. You okay?"

Sachi looked up at Kirito with fresh tears on her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just… needed to get away from everything."

"How come?" Kirito asked.

"Because I'm afraid of dying." Sachi admitted. "I'm just not cut out for this game. It's only a matter of time before I get killed."

"I'm not going to let that happen." Kirito told her. "I promise I'll do everything I can to protect you."

"…You really mean that?" Sachi asked.

"Of course I do." Kirito answered. "Now c'mon, let's get out of here. The others are pretty worried."

With that, the two of them left the sewers and returned to the inn that the guild had been using as a temporary base. Just as Kirito was getting ready for bed he heard a knock on his door. Upon opening it, Kirito saw Sachi standing before him wearing a light-blue nightgown.

"Something wrong Sachi?" Kirito asked.

"Well… I…" Sachi nervously began. "Can I sleep here tonight?"

"Uh, what?" Kirito responded as his face turned a bit red.

"It's just… I don't think I'd be as scared if I knew you were near me." Sachi explained. "So… can I?"

"Oh… sure." Kirito finally agreed. "Come on it."

Sachi entered the room and shut the door behind her as Kirito got into bed. He moved aside a little to make room and Sachi got in next to him. They ended up cuddling close together and Sachi fell asleep quickly. Kirito on the other hand was not having as easy a time falling asleep. It was after all the first time he shared a bed with a girl, at least with a girl that wasn't related to him. But before long he finally relaxed and dozed off himself.

* * *

Another month went by as Kirito's time with the Moonlit Black Cats continued. During that time he and Sachi had grown a bit closer. One morning, Keita left the others to go back down to Starting City on the first floor. The guild had obtained enough money to buy a permanent headquarters, so Keita had gone to see about getting such a place. The others waited in town near the inn for Keita to return. Most of them were excited about getting an actual headquarters.

As the group hung around in the town square, Kirito looked and suddenly noticed a familiar figure approaching. It was a young man with long white hair wearing a long white coat with baggy sleeves, long black pants, and a piece of silver chest armor over a blue shirt. The young man had a cheerful expression on his face.

"Hey there, Kirito." The young man greeted as he approached. "It's been quite some time since I saw you last."

"Yeah, hi Bakura." Kirito greeted back.

"Kirito, you know this guy?" Sasamaru asked.

"Oh yeah, this is Bakura. He's a player I've run into a few times." Kirito explained. "Bakura, these are the guys in my guild."

"Nice to meet you, Bakura." Tetsuo greeted in a friendly manner. "Any friend of Kirito's is a friend of our. I'm Tetsuo, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you too." Bakura responded. "I have to say though, I'm a little surprised to see that Kirito's joined a guild."

"So Bakura, what brings you around here?" Kirito asked.

"I just came to a little shop to trade some rare items I found in a labyrinth on the twenty-seventh floor." Bakura explained. "I got a pretty good haul."

"Whoa! You've been to a dungeon on the twenty-seventh floor?" a very impressed Ducker asked.

"Of course. Haven't you?" Bakura replied.

"Nah, we haven't tried going up that far yet." Sasamaru answered. "But now that I think about it, raiding a dungeon like that doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Yeah! We could totally impress Keita by bringing back a bunch of rare items!" Ducker enthusiastically agreed.

"You guys, I don't think that's such a good idea." Kirito told them. "The dungeons on that floor are pretty tough."

"I don't think it should be any problem for you guys." Bakura disagreed. "If Kirito is a part of your guild, then you must be pretty strong."

"He's right!" Tetsuo agreed. "With Kirito with us, a dungeon like that should be no sweat."

"I can even tell you where to find the dungeon I just came from." Bakura offered. "There should be a lot of rare items in there still."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Tetsuo asked. "Let's go!"

"Guys, I still don't think this is a good idea." Kirito told them.

"C'mon Kirito, I know we get through that dungeon if you're with us." Sachi told him.

"See Kirito? Even Sachi's up for it." Tetsuo pointed out. "So what're we waiting for?"

"Well… okay." Kirito finally agreed. "But we should all be real careful."

Once Bakura gave Kirito and the others direction to the dungeon, they went up to the twenty-seventh floor. The whole trip there, Kirito continued to think that the raid was a bad idea. The levels of his fellow guild members were still far too low. The fact was that he had been the real reason why the guild had been succeeding so far. And Bakura had inadvertently made things a bit worse. The white-haired treasure hunter was aware of Kirito's actual level, but the others still weren't.

The group spent at least two hours searching the labyrinth that Bakura had told them about. Kirito was relieved that they hadn't run into any monsters.

"Okay guys, it looks like we've been through this whole dungeon." Kirito told them. "I think we should get going now. We've gotten plenty of rare items and I'm sure that Keita's wondering where we are by now."

"Hold on, Kirito. Looks like there's another room here." Sasamaru informed him from the end of the passageway.

"Do you know what's in it?" Tetsuo asked as he and the others walked up.

"Nah, the door's locked." Sasamaru answered.

"Then we should probably get going." Kirito suggested.

"Hold on! Just leave this to me." Ducker told them as he went over to the lock and kneeled down. "With my skills as a thief, a lock like this should be no problem."

In moments, Ducker picked the lock and opened the door. On the other side was an empty room with a single locked treasure chest in the center. The group went inside and Ducker kneeled down to begin picking the lock of the chest. But as soon as he touched it, the door shut and locked behind them and the walls of the room began to glow red. Suddenly a hoard of monsters materialized all around them. They were brown, skeletal-looking creatures. Each one had a large head with a long point towards the back and round red eyes. In their hands each one carried a sinister-looking saber.

"What are these things?" a freaked-out Tetsuo asked.

"They're Goblin Zombies!" Kirito told them.

"Time to get out of here!" Ducker decided as he pulled out a blue crystal. "Teleport!"

Ducker and the others expected for the crystal to teleport him out of the room. But to their horror, nothing happened. Kirito then realized that the room they were in had a trap that prevented anyone from teleporting out. Suddenly three of the Goblin Zombies attacked Ducker and slashed him with their swords. Ducker's HP dropped in a flash and he shattered into polygons. The other creatures began their attack, prompting Kirito and the others to draw their weapons.

Kirito slashed the Goblin Zombie in front of him in half, but another got him in the back and caused his HP to drop a bit. Kirito turned and slashed the creature behind him in the chest. And he turned just in time to see Tetsuo and Sasamaru shatter to polygons. Only he and Sachi were left. Sachi was trying her best to fight off the undead goblins, but there were far too many. Her HP was dropping rapidly.

Suddenly Kirito's eyes fell upon the treasure chest that was still in the center of the room. It occurred to him that the trap was triggered when Ducker started fiddling with it. Kirito slashed his way through two more Goblin Zombies and shouted as he struck the chest with one hard kick. The chest splintered apart and the remaining Goblin Zombies all vanished. The walls went dark and the door to the chamber opened. Sachi fell down on her butt, her HP down to a mere sliver.

Immediately Kirito ran to her side and hugged her. "Sachi, are you okay?"

"Tetsuo… Ducker… Sasamaru… they're all dead." Sachi responded as she broke down in tears.

"I know, I'm sorry." Kirito told her he held her tighter. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect them."

"You were right, Kirito. We shouldn't have come here." Sachi realized.

"Let's just worry about getting out of here right now." Kirito told her.

After Kirito gave both himself and Sachi some healing potion, they left the chamber and headed out of the labyrinth as quickly as they could. As they reached the exit, Kirito saw Bakura standing right outside. But there was something different about him. Instead of his regular outfit, he had on a long tattered black coat with black chest armor, a dark-brown shirt, long blue pants, and dirty black boots. His belt buckle was shaped like a silver skull.

Kirito's noticed something different about Bakura's face too. His grin seemed somehow murderous, and his eyes seemed crazed. Kirito didn't know why, but he felt like those eyes were the eyes of a demon. It was as if he had seen those eyes somewhere before, but he couldn't place where or when. Kirito tried putting it out of his mind and continued out of the labyrinth. He held tightly to Sachi's hand the whole way. In a matter of seconds they were both out of the dungeon.

"Now Diabound! Kill the girl!" Bakura suddenly ordered.

What happened next happened in a matter of seconds. The massive head of what looked like a cobra seemed to materialized behind Sachi and struck her several times in the back. Sachi's hand slipped from Kirito's grasp as she fell forward. Kirito watched in horror as her HP dropped to zero in less than a second. In the last few moments before she shattered into polygons, Sachi looked at Kirito, smiled, and said something to him. But Kirito couldn't hear what she said. He far too shocked by what just happened.

The next thing Kirito heard was the sound of Bakura's evil laughter. He fell to his knees and cried Sachi's name.

"Well Kirito, it looks like you're the lone survivor." Bakura observed as he finished laughing. "Congratulations. It's a shame your weak friends had to die."

"You…" Kirito responded in a hate-filled voice as he got back to his feet and drew his sword. "YOU BASTARD!"

Kirito charged at Bakura and swung his sword down towards his head. Bakura laughed as he quickly drew his own curved blade and easily blocked Kirito's attack. Kirito swung at him again, but Bakura easily stepped to the side to avoid it. As Bakura blocked Kirito's third swing, he used his left hand to draw a curved dagger from behind his back and used it to stab Kirito in his right side. Kirito felt his body go numb. He staggered backwards and dropped his sword.

"I hope you enjoyed the sting of my own unique skill, Shadow Dagger." Bakura spoke. "The blade by the way was coated with a toxin that paralyzes its victim. But don't worry. It only lasts for about five minutes. More than enough time for me to do this!"

With that, Bakura slashed Kirito several times in the chest with his sword. Kirito's HP dropped into the red as he fell to his side. Bakura laughed triumphantly as he stood over Kirito's motionless body.

"So now what? Are you going to kill me too?" Kirito asked.

"No, I need you alive to use another one of my special skills." Bakura replied.

With a wave of his hand, a holographic screen appeared in front of Bakura. The screen showed a list of items that Bakura scrolled through.

"Hmm… it seems you have quite a few rare items in your inventory." Bakura observed as he looked at the list. "I expected nothing less from a player of your caliber. But you've had a hard day, so I'll only take two or three."

"Why… why are you doing this?" Kirito asked.

"Because I can." Bakura replied as he selected the items he wanted and caused the screen to vanish. "This game allows the players to be their true selves. Which means I can be my true self as the king of thieves! Here I can take whatever I want for myself! Even the lives of other players!"

"But… this isn't a game where you can just kill whoever you want without consequences." Kirito told him. "In here… people actually die!"

"What do I care?" Bakura responded. "I'm only interested in the thrill!"

"You… you monster! I'll never forgive you for this!" Kirito told him.

"Come now, Kirito. You have no one to blame for all this but yourself." Bakura told him as he grabbed him by the top of his head and lifted him up. "By playing babysitter to that guild of weaklings, you made yourself an easy target for someone like me. I know for a fact that your level was far higher than theirs. If you had told them who you really were from the beginning, they all might still be alive. Even that pathetic girl you were so fond of. I'll let you think about that as the paralysis wears off."

With that, Bakura let go of Kirito's head and let him drop to the ground. After that he kicked Kirito in the stomach and laughed as he walked off. It was a few more moments before Kirito could move again. Tears were streaming down his face as he got to his knees. Kirito cried out in despair, the loudness of his voice scaring the birds from their trees.

* * *

Bakura laughed about what he had just accomplished from his throne in the Ruby Palace. The first part of his plan had gone perfectly. Kayaba looked at Bakura from his mirror with contempt.

"So Kayaba, I take it that I've done something that you don't approve of." Bakura assumed as he glanced over at the man in the mirror.

"You truly are a sadistic creature." Kayaba told him. "What I don't understand is why you made that young man despise you when you're trying to use him."

"But that's just it. I want him to hate me." Bakura revealed. "I'm going to fill Kirito with so much hatred towards me that he'll be willing to go through anything and anyone to get back at me. Even my host's dear friends."

"What do you mean your host?" Kayaba asked.

"You'll know soon enough." Bakura ominously answered.

* * *

It was dusk as Anzu walked through the streets of the village of Taft. She had been searching for someone, but none of the other players in the village had seen who she was looking for. Anzu was about to give up and head to the town square to meet with Yugi and the others when she saw Kirito walking in her general direction. She noticed that he seemed depressed, but she had to hope that he had seen the person she was trying to find.

"Uh, excuse me." Anzu called as she approached Kirito. "I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"Leave me alone." Kirito calmly told her as he walked past.

"Please, I'm looking for a friend of mine and I heard he might be here." Anzu explained. "His name is…"

"I told you to get lost!" Kirito snapped.

"Jeez! I was just trying to ask you a question." An offended Anzu told him.

"…Sorry." Kirito responded after a moment before he continued to walk off. "I'm really tired. So just leave me alone, okay?"

Anzu thought about trying to ask again, but decided to drop the matter. Whoever the young man in black was, it was clear that he wasn't going to be of any help. With her search at a dead end, she headed for the town square. Upon her arrival at the square she saw that Yugi, Joey, and Honda were already waiting for her.

"Any luck?" Honda asked.

"No, nobody's seen Bakura." Anzu reported. "I did run into this one guy on my way here, but he wasn't really in a mood to talk. Actually he seemed pretty down about something."

"Crap!" Joey cursed. "Seems like half of what we've been doing in this game is trying to find Bakura."

"Guys, I just had a really bad thought." Honda spoke. "What if Bakura put on the Millennium Ring before logging into this game?"

"C'mon Honda, he wouldn't do anything that crazy." Joey assured him. "He knows what that ring does to him."

"But if he did, the consequences would be very bad." Yugi pointed out. "Who knows what the spirit of Bakura's Millennium Ring might try to do in this game world."

"You're right. What if the other Bakura ends up killing someone?" a concerned Anzu agreed. "Or worse, what if the other Bakura makes an enemy of someone and that person tries to kill him. The real Bakura would be the one who'd die."

"That's why we have to find Bakura as soon as possible." Yugi told them. "If the spirit of the Millennium Ring really has taken over, then we have to stop him before Bakura or anyone else gets killed."

* * *

**Author's Note:** So at least part of Bakura's evil plan has become a little clearer in this chapter. Anyway, when I was working on adapting the episodes of the SAO anime for this story, I decided to split the episode where Sachi and the rest of the Moonlit Black Cats died into two chapters. The main reason for this was because of the added scenes with Bakura, and the one scene at the end with Yugi and the others. The next chapter will be part two, the Christmas aftermath. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


	6. Tears of Snow

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 5: Tears of Snow

It was a snowy night on the Christmas Eve of 2023. Christmastime was a somewhat bittersweet event of the players of MWO. Being trapped in their virtual prison, they were all cut off from their family and loved ones. Yet many of the players still had each other, and that made the holidays more bearable. And it was a little hard for many not to get into the Christmas spirit the way the towns and cities in the game automatically decorated themselves for Christmas. But for those players who had no one, Christmas in the game was quite depressing.

This particular Christmas was especially bitter. Despite the passing months, the deaths of those in the Moonlit Black Cats still haunted him. He was the last surviving member of that guild. Even Keita had died. He had killed himself by jumping to his death after Kirito had told him about what happened to Sachi and the others. He had also told Keita about the kind of player that he rally was, that he was a beater. After everything was said and done, Kirito had come to one inescapable conclusion. The deaths of his fellow guild members were his fault.

It was true that Bakura had baited the trap that led to the deaths of Tetsuo, Sasamaru, and Ducker. And it was Bakura himself who had killed Sachi. But as much as Kirito blamed Bakura for what happened, he blamed himself just as much if not more. If he hadn't hidden his true level and abilities from them, if he hadn't joined their guild, they would probably still be alive. They wouldn't have become a target for Bakura. By carrying the guild with his strength alone, he had made them overconfident and made them think they were ready for challenges they were unable to beat. And in the end even his strength wasn't enough to protect them.

What haunted Kirito most about the whole incident though were the last words Sachi said to him before she died. There wasn't a day when he didn't think about it, yet no matter how hard he tried he couldn't figure out what she had said. It all happened so fast and the shock was simply too great. The only thing he could remember hearing when it happened was Bakura ordering something called Diabound to kill Sachi, then Bakura's laughter about the deed afterward. Kirito desperately wanted to know Sachi had told him.

It was for that reason that Kirito sat outside on a bench in the town square a city on that snowy night. He was waiting for a certain person to come and confirm a rumor that he had heard about. The city was decked out in its finest and a massive Christmas tree had been erected in the square. But Kirito paid no attention to it.

"Merry Christmas, Kii-bou." A familiar voice greeted, causing Kirito to look up.

Standing before Kirito was a young woman dressed in a brown hooded cloak. Curly auburn hair peeked out from beneath her hood and she had brown eyes and red whisker-like marks painted on her cheeks. This was the person Kirito had been waiting for, a beta tester and information broker known as Argo the Rat.

"Hey Argo." Kirito greeted in a somber tone.

"So what've you been up to lately?" Argo asked. "You haven't doing anything naughty like hiding your real level again, have you?"

"Do you have the info I asked for?" Kirito impatiently asked.

"Of course." Argo confirmed. "You did pay me in advance after all. Anyway, the rumor you heard is true. Tonight on Floor Thirty-five in the Forest of the Wandering, a special boss monster called Satan Clause will appear carrying a bag of ultra-rare items. Beat him, and you get the whole sack."

"And one of those items is something that can bring back a dead player, right?" Kirito asked.

"That's right." Argo answered. "It's called the Divine Stone of Returning Soul, and it's supposed to be able to bring back one player. If you don't mind me asking, who're you planning to raise from the dead?"

"It's someone I hurt." Kirito admitted. "She said something to me before she died, but I couldn't understand what it was. So I want to find out. Even if she hates me, that's fine."

"So it's closure you're after." Argo observed. "Well whatever. I was just curious. By the way, there is one other thing about this quest you might like to know. But it'll cost ya."

"That's fine." Kirito told her. "Money's no object."

"Then I'll tell you that someone else also bought the info on this quest from me." Argo revealed. "A guild called Fuurinkazan. I guess they're after the rare items too."

Kirito recognized the name of the guild Argo informed him of. It was the guild that Klein had formed with his friends. And he had a feeling that Klein wanted to know about the quest for another reason. He didn't really care though. After paying Argo her little fee for the added information, Kirito teleported off to the thirty-fifth floor.

The forest that Kirito materialized in was dark and covered with snow. The moon above illuminated the snow on the ground and on the trees, giving the place a dim yet eerily beautiful glow. Kirito began to head for the place where Satan Clause was due to appear. But he stopped for a moment when he noticed a dim blue light appear briefly behind him. Turning around, Kirito saw Klein standing behind him dressed in a red and black outfit similar to that of a samurai.

Klein had not come alone. The other members of his guild had come with him. There were five in all, not counting Klein. And they were dressed similarly to Klein. Kirito didn't know the other members of the guild all that well, but he knew each of their names. There was one member who was a husky young man dressed in red called Dale, and another member named Kunimittz who had dark hair and wore a green long-sleeved shirt with long red pant, along with blue chest and shoulder armor and a green cloth across his chest. The third member was known to Kirito as Dynamm and wore red armor and a red cloth on top of his head. Lastly, the final two members of the guild were a slender brown-haired man in a red tunic called Issin, and another young man known as the Harry One, who wore grey armor that made him look more like a knight than a samurai.

"Hey there, Kirito." Klein greeted.

"Hey." Kirito greeted back. "Argo told me I'd probably run into you. So, you after the bag of rare items too?"

"Not exactly." Klein answered. "We want to help you fight the boss."

"Thanks, but I'd rather do this on my own." Kirito told him.

"C'mon Kirito. From what Argo told us, this boss is supposed to be pretty tough." Klein pointed out. "And to be honest, I'm kinda worried about you. I've seen the way you've been fighting these past few months. It's like you don't even care if you die or not."

"I'm fine." Kirito insisted. "I can handle this quest on my own."

"Actually, you won't be handling it at all." A voice interrupted before Klein could argue. Kirito and the others looked to see a band of what appeared to be knights in grey armor standing before them. "We'll be taking over this quest."

"Oh man! It's those losers from the Divine Dragon Alliance." Dynamm identified.

"They must be here for the rare items too." Klein deduced.

"That's right!" one of the knights confirmed as they drew their weapons. "And if you all know what's good for you, you'll leave and let us take them."

"Klein, can you and the others take care of these guys for me?" Kirito requested. "I'm going after the boss."

Klein sighed in defeat. "Okay, but just be careful."

Kirito nodded and proceeded deeper into the forest. Behind him, Klein and other members of Fuurinkazan began to battle the Dragon Alliance. After a few more moments of walking he reached a small clearing. Flying down before him from the night sky was an imposing demonic-looking creature with mostly red scaly skin. He had two pair of horns on his head, a small pair that curved downward and a larger pair that looked like the antlers of a reindeer. Growing from his shoulders were green things that looked like holly leaves, and wrapped around his waist was a white scarf with green stripes. The creature had two pairs of bat-like wings on its back. With the larger pair being red and the smaller pair being green. Slung over the demon's back was a large light-brown sack.

"Let's do this." A determined Kirito spoke as he drew his sword.

Satan Clause raised his right claw and fired bolts of red and green lightning at Kirito. The young man in black rolled out of the way to avoid the attack and charged at the demon. Kirito slashed Satan Clause across the chest, taking off a good-sized chunk of his HP. But the demon recovered and swung his sack into Kirito. The force of the blow was strong enough to knock him several feet into a nearby tree. Kirito got back to his feet, but his HP had dropped near the yellow zone.

It became clear to Kirito that Satan Clause was not going to be an easy opponent to defeat. But he was fine with that. Dying was acceptable to him at this point. It would merely be a way to atone for what happened to the Moonlit Black Cats. Yet at the same, Kirito wasn't about to welcome death so easily. Satan Clause fired another red and green blast at Kirito, hitting him in the chest. Kirito quickly recovered and charged full speed at the demon. Once he was in range, he began slashing wildly at the fiend with his blade, striking him several times in the chest.

With his HP in the red zone, Satan Clause swung his bag at Kirito again. This time Kirito managed to jump backwards to avoid the attack. After almost losing his balance, Kirito charged at the demon and stabbed him right through the chest. Satan Clause's HP dropped to zero and his body shattered into polygons. Only the demon's sack remained. Kirito took the bag and added it to his inventory. He scrolled through the list of items until he came to the one that he hoped would allow him to bring back Sachi. But upon reading the description, his heart sank. The Divine Stone was not the powerful item that he thought it would be.

Disheartened, Kirito began to walk back out of the forest. It was only a few moments before he returned to the spot where Klein and the others had been fighting the Divine Dragon Alliance. But upon his arrival, Kirito saw the members of Fuurinkazan on the ground.

Kirito rushed over to Klein's side. "Klein! Are you okay?"

Klein opened his eyes and raised his head. "Kirito… run!"

Before Kirito could respond, something hard suddenly kicked into his side and knocked him away. As he tried to get up, Kirito could hear a horribly familiar laugh. He managed to raise his head to see Bakura walking towards him with an evil grin on his face.

"Hello, Kirito." Bakura greeted. "Merry Christmas."

"Bakura! What are you…?" Kirito began to ask.

"If you're wondering what happened to those fools from the Divine Dragon Alliance, I killed them all." Bakura continued. "I also did a bit of damage to these friends of yours. In the spirit of Christmas, I decided to spare their lives. Though I suppose it would be entertaining to make you watch as I killed them all one by one."

"Don't you dare lay a hand on them!" Kirito protested as he tried to get to his feet.

Bakura chuckled as he placed his foot on Kirito's back to pin him to the ground. "On the other hand, I think I've had my fill of bloodshed for the evening. So I'll just take what I came here for and leave. By the way, thanks for taking care of that monster for me. It makes getting these items so much easier."

"You bastard!" Kirito cursed as Bakura began scrolling through his item list.

"These are indeed some rare items." Bakura confirmed as he added them to his own inventory. "I assume you were after one item in particular, the Divine Stone of Returning Soul." With that, a round white stone materialized in Bakura's hand. "A shame it can only revive a dead player in the ten seconds before his or her body shatters apart. In other words, it can only revive someone on the brink of death."

"So… that stone is useless?" Klein realized.

"Well, useless to me anyway." Bakura answered as he tossed the stone away, causing it to shatter into polygons. "In any case, I think I can guess why you wanted it Kirito. You were hoping to resurrect that pathetic girl. What was her name again? I've had so many victims it's hard to keep track. But it was a foolish notion. You know very well that those who die in this game die in the real world. All you could've hoped to bring back was a ghost."

Kirito didn't respond. He knew that Bakura was right. On some level he had hoped that he could've somehow brought Sachi back from the dead for real. But he knew how the game worked.

"It's a pity you weren't able to protect her." Bakura continued. "She seemed quite fond you from the way she spoke to you before she died."

Kirito suddenly perked up. "You… you know what she said to me, didn't you?"

"Don't you?" Bakura replied. "You were standing right there. Surly you would've heard her. But then maybe with everything happening so fast, perhaps the shock was simply too great for you. I could tell you what she said if you liked. Would you like that Kirito?"

"What did she say?" Kirito asked. "Tell me!"

At this Bakura grinned wider. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Bakura lifted his foot off Kirito's back and used it to kick him in the side. Kirito watched as the king of thieves laughed while walking away. Just as Kirito managed to sit up, Bakura suddenly seemed to vanish into thin air. As Kirito finally got back to his feet, Klein and his fellow guild members got back up as well. Defeated and worn out, Kirito began to walk off.

"Kirito, wait!" Klein called, causing him to stop. "You have to survive. Survive until the end. Please…"

Kirito didn't respond at all. Instead he continued walking. A few minutes later, Kirito had returned to the inn where he had been staying. It was almost midnight. Christmas day would soon be upon him. But it wasn't a day worth celebrating. As Kirito sulked at his desk, a small crystal-like object suddenly appeared before him. He was surprised to find that it was a recorded message from Sachi timed to appear in his inventory on Christmas day. After a moment, he engaged the recording to hear what it said.

_"Hello Kirito."_ Sachi's voice greeted. _"If you're hearing this, it means that I've died. I want you to know Kirito that I don't blame you at all. I know you did everything you could to protect me. The fact is it was only a matter of time before I died. Someone like me was never cut out for a world like this. But I want you do something for me, Kirito. Even if I die, you keep living okay? Live to see the end of this world, and see why it was born. Live to see why a weak girl like me ended up here… and the reason you and I met."_

Kirito was finding it very hard not to cry. But he didn't want to miss a single word of the message.

_"I don't have much time left."_ Sachi's voice continued. _"So how 'bout I sing you a song?"_

With that, the recording of Sachi began to hum a Christmas carol, _Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer._ Kirito listened to the entire thing, trying to hold on to the sound of Sachi's voice for as long as he could. He wished that the song wouldn't end. But after a few moments it finally did.

_"Thank you. Goodbye."_ Sachi's voice spoke before the crystal went dark.

Suddenly it all hit Kirito. Those words that ended the message were the very same words that Sachi said to him before she died. Kirito finally broke down in tears. He was glad that Sachi didn't blame him for what happened, though he still blamed himself. Yet continuing to live and survive the game they both found each other in was the least he could do for her.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Writing chapters with sad scenes in them like this one always seem to drain me. I always seem to get choked up while writing them. Anyway, besides the part where Bakura showed up to twist the knife and steal more of Kirito's stuff, there was another difference from the SAO anime. The monster that Kirito fought, Satan Clause, is another monster from the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game. The card in question was released in Japan as a promo card towards the end of last year. I imagine that if it's ever released in the U.S. its name will be changed.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	7. The Warriors of Unity

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 6: The Warriors of Unity

It was the morning of March sixth, 2024. All the major players of MWO had gathered in a large cave near a small town on the fifty-sixth floor that was populated by NPCs. The meeting was to discuss a major offensive to defeat the field boss guarding the entrance to the main dungeon on that floor, an undead dragon with incredible power capable of destroying entire armies. Other plans had been made to destroy the dragon, but all had failed. And with the entrance to the dungeon at the end of the relatively narrow where the dragon resided, there was no way around it. The one leading the meeting was the second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood Oath, Asuna.

"So it's settled." Asuna decided as she leaned over a table with a map showing the area. "We'll open the gates to the town and let the dragon slaughter the NPCs. While it's distracted, we'll throw everything we have at it."

"Hold on. I'm not cool with that plan." Kirito calmly objected. "It isn't right to let the dragon just kill all the NPCs in this town."

"Why, because they're alive?" Asuna coldly argued. "NPCs can just respawn later when get killed. If we die in the game, that's it. It's over."

"That still doesn't make this plan right." Kirito told her.

"I for one approve of this plan." A voice interrupted. Kirito looked to see Kaiba walking out of the darkness of the cave to stand next to Asuna. "You're the one they call the Black Swordsman, right? I can understand your objections, but sentiment is a luxury none of us can afford if we expect to survive this game."

"That's where you're wrong, Kaiba!" a deep commanding voice argued.

Everyone looked up towards the small entrance of the cave and saw Yugi standing at the top of the stone staircase with Joey, Anzu, and Honda. All eyes were on the four as they walked down the stairs. Yugi and the others looked like they were dressed for battle. In addition to his Millennium Puzzle, Yugi had on a long-sleeved black shirt and long black pant with purple chest and shoulder armor. He also had on panels of purple armor around his waist. He also had on purple boots and gloves, and hanging from his back by gold fastenings near the top of his chest armor was a red flowing cape that went down just past his knees.

Anzu's outfit consisted of white robes with silver-blue chest and shoulder armor and a silver belt with a round blue gem on the front of the buckle. Atop her head was a conical hat with a wide brim. In her right hand she carried a long white staff. Attached to the top of the staff was a large blue orb held in place by three gold blade-like prongs. Her appearance made it obvious that she was a magic user.

Joey meanwhile had on a blue long-sleeved shirt and long brown pants with red chest and shoulder armor. He also had on dark-brown boots and fingerless dark-brown gloves. Hanging on his back by a brown strap was a large sword with a red handle. As for Honda, he had on a black poncho with a white long-sleeved shirt and black fingerless gloves. Black horizontal lines were painted on his cheeks, and on his head was a white headband. Slung across his back was a black sniper rifle. One of the most distinctive features of the four though was that each one wore a golden-yellow armband with a smiley face on their left arms.

"Oh man. It's the Warriors of Unity." One of the other players spoke.

"You mean that do-gooder guild?" another player asked. "I thought they stayed out of a lot of the boss fights."

"That's what I heard too." A third player spoke. "I guess they showed up here because they heard about the commander's plan."

"Figures." The first player responded. "Guys who like to waste their time playing hero like those four would have a problem with a plan where villagers get slaughtered."

Yugi and his three companions stood together before the table. A silence filled the cave as Yugi and Kaiba glared at one another. Kirito meanwhile couldn't help but feel somewhat impressed by the appearance of the four.

After a moment, Kaiba chuckled. "Well Yugi, I see you finally decided to show up at a boss raid. I'm actually surprised to see that those friends of yours have survived for this long, especially that deadbeat swordsman. I would've thought that he'd be the first to die in this game."

"Watch it, you big…!" an offended Joey began to protest.

"Easy man." Honda calmly told the blonde swordsman as he held him back. "Now's not the time for that kind of thing."

"Kaiba, I can't let this plan of yours go forward." Yugi told him.

"What? Not you too!" Asuna complained.

"Are you serious Yugi?" Kaiba furiously protested. "In case you and those loser friends of yours haven't figured it out by now, we trapped in this game fighting for our lives! If we're going to survive, we have to do whatever's necessary!"

"No Kaiba." Yugi told him. "This time you've gone too far."

"Look whoever you are!" Asuna cut in. "I don't know what you and those friends of yours think you're trying to accomplish, but every other way to get rid of that dragon has been tried! This is our only option! Anything else is just a waste of time, and time is something we can't afford to waste in this world!"

"You're called Asuna, right?" Yugi asked. "There is another option this plan you and Kaiba have come up with, and I've found it."

"I've had enough of this!" Kaiba loudly protested. "You and that little guild of yours have stayed out of every other boss raid so far, and now you think you can show up here and lecture me on battle plans? Who the hell do you think you are Yugi? I'm the one who's in charge of the defense forces, which means the final decision is mine!"

"Very well, Kaiba." Yugi replied. "But I'm going ahead with plan whether you like it or not."

"Fine! But don't blame me if you and those three fools die in the crossfire!" Kaiba replied as he turned on his heel. "We make our move in one hour! This meeting is over!"

With that, the gathering of players left the cave and dispersed to wait for the coming offensive. Kirito leaned outside against a tree to think about what had just happened. He too felt that there had to be a better way to defeat the dragon, but he couldn't think of anything. And he had no idea what Yugi and his friends had in mind.

"Yo, Kirito." A familiar voice greeted. Kirito looked up to see Agil approaching.

"Oh, hey Agil." Kirito greeted back.

"Man, what's with you?" Agil asked. "Seems like you and commander Asuna are always going at it."

"Yeah. You know I'm glad she took the advice I gave her back on floor one, but I never imagined she'd join one of the top guilds." Kirito replied. "Hey Agil, do you know anything about that other guild that showed up, the Warriors of Unity?"

"You mean the do-gooder guild?" Agil asked. "They're one of the smallest guilds in the game. So far they've spent a lot of their time doing stuff like dealing with guys who pick on the weaker players."

"So they're like peacekeepers or something?" Kirito asked.

"They seem to look at themselves like that anyway." Agil answered. "But their level are pretty high, and two of them are the strongest magic users in the game. Their leader Yugi's a sorcerer who specializes in dark magic and summoning magic."

"You mean he summons monsters to help him fight?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah, mostly beast monsters and demons." Agil confirmed. "And a lot of people call that girl in their group Anzu the White Witch. The word is she's a master of white magic and healing magic. The other two guys in their group are pretty good too."

"They sound like a tough guild, even though they're so small." Kirito observed.

"Yeah, but I don't know how they think they're gonna get rid of that dragon without letting it kill those NPCs." Agil pointed out. "Seems like everything else has been tried."

"Excuse me." A familiar voice interrupted. Kirito turned to see Yugi walking up to him. "You're called Kirito, right? Mind if I have a word with you?"

"Hey man, I'll leave you two alone." Agil decided. "See you around, Kirito."

"Yeah, later." Kirito replied before Agil walked off. He then turned back to Yugi. "So, what is it you want to talk to me about?"

"I heard you arguing with Asuna and Kaiba about their strategy to slay the dragon." Yugi explained. "So I was hoping you might be interested in helping my friends and I with our plan."

"Sure, I guess I could team up with you guys for this battle." Kirito agreed. "But I don't know how you plan to get rid of that dragon."

"It's simple. I'm going weaken the dragon by fighting it with a monster." Yugi explained. "When I give the signal, you and the others will leap in and attack it."

"But that dragon's a field boss." Kirito pointed out. "How were you able to find a monster strong enough to beat it?"

"I didn't say it was a monster with the strength to beat the dragon." Yugi told him with a sly expression. "You'll see when the time comes. But right now we need to get moving. Kaiba and his forces will be making their move before long."

"Okay. But I hope you know what you're doing." Kirito told them as they walked off.

A few minutes later, Kirito was waiting atop one of the canyon walls that formed the corridor to the dungeon entrance with Joey, Honda, and Anzu. Yugi had gone back to the village so he could begin his part of the plan when the time came. The four of them had been mostly silent during the hours before the attack was scheduled to begin. Anzu had been reading a book, and Honda had been cleaning his rifle while Joey polished his large sword. The weapon in question had a red blade that was wide at the end.

"So, that looks like a pretty rare sword you got there." Kirito told Joey in an attempt to finally start a conversation.

"Oh yeah, you like it?" Joey replied with a grin of pride as he displayed his weapon. "It's my enchanted flame sword! It's probably the best sword in the whole game. You have no idea what I went through to get my hands on this baby."

"Dude, you got that sword like ten floors ago." Honda reminded him. "When are you gonna stop bragging about it?"

"Enchanted weapons are pretty hard to come by in this game." Kirito pointed out. "I don't blame your friend for bragging about it a little. So you're a magic gunman, right?"

"Yep." Honda confirmed. "I'm a pretty good shot in the real world, so being a magic gunman in this game seemed like the perfect choice for me. Wasn't expecting things to turn out like this though."

"That jerk, Kayaba!" Joey cursed. "When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna beat him to a pulp!"

"You'll probably have to get in line." Kirito pointed out.

"Hey Kirito, I think you and I met once before." Anzu recalled. "I could be wrong, but I think I might have bumped into you on the street one evening last summer."

"Sorry, doesn't ring a bell." Kirito told her.

"Well, it probably wasn't you." Aznu assumed. "The guy I ran into bit my head off just for trying to ask him something."

"What is it you were trying to ask him?" Kirito inquired.

"I just wanted to know if he had seen a friend of mine." Anzu explained. "The other and I had heard he was in a village called Taft and went there to look for him."

Suddenly Kirito flashed back to the day that the Moonlit Black Cats were killed. He vaguely remembered a young woman trying to ask him something as he was trying to head back to the inn. It was right after he had watched Keita jump to his death.

"You know, I think I was the guy you tried to talk to." Kirito admitted. "Sorry I snapped at you like that. I was having a really bad day."

"Oh, what happened?" Anzu asked.

"…I'd rather not talk about it." Kirito answered. "We should keep our eye out for when Yugi's plan starts."

"Trust me, man. When Yugi's plan starts, we'll know." Joey assured him.

Another hour passed, and back in the village Kaiba and the rest of the clearers were already in position. They waited in two groups by the massive iron gates build into the wall that sealed the corridor and its dragon off from the village.

"Now! Open the gates!" Kaiba ordered.

Two warriors from Kaiba's guild turned the large crank that opened the doors. The moment the gates opened up though, Yugi charged through on the back of a white horse. In his right hand he carried an ornate purple wand with a round green stone on the top.

"That guy again!" Asuna observed. "Is he crazy? What the heck does he think he's doing charging in like that?"

"Damn it, Yugi!" Kaiba cursed. "What are you trying to do?"

As the gates opened all the way, Yugi stopped his horse half way through the corridor. Emerging from the large mouth of the cave at the other end was a massive black skeletal dragon with a long neck and flesh that smelled like rotting meat. Growing from the back of its head was a mass of straight white hair, and the two horns atop its head pointed forward. Its eyes were a pair of sockets that had two dim red lights floating inside them. This was the feared creature that guarded the entrance to the next dungeon, the Berserk Dragon.

The dragon lumbered towards Yugi, its footsteps caused the ground to shake. Kaiba, Asuna, and some of the other players in the clearing force gathered by the gate to watch, while Kirito and the other members of Yugi's guild waited atop the canyon wall. Soon the undead dragon stopped and looked down at Yugi.

Yugi raised his wand before the dragon. "I call now upon a creature to come to my aid!"

"This is it." Kirito observed. "What could he be trying to summon?"

"Come forth, Kuriboh!" Yugi called.

A ball of green light flew from the end of Yugi's wand and exploded in a puff of pink smoke. The smoke quickly faded to reveal a brown ball of fur with large yellow eyes and four scaly green legs.

"What… what the hell?" a stunned Kirito exclaimed.

"Is he really going to try fighting the dragon with that cute little thing?" Asuna wondered.

Many of the other players watched from the gate thinking that Yugi was a fool or insane. Meanwhile, Berserk Dragon reared back its head to launch its attack.

Yugi fired a ball of yellow light at Kuriboh. "Spell of Multiplication!"

Just as the dragon fired a massive ball of orange flames from its mouth, the shot from Yugi's wand hit Kuriboh and caused it to become a whole swarm in a flash. The fireball hit the wall fur balls and caused several of them to explode. But in a matter of seconds the Kuriboh swarm regenerated and replaced the ones that were destroyed. The dragon shot another fireball at the swarm, but the result was the same.

"I get it. Yugi's using that wall of little monsters as a shield to distract the dragon." Kirito observed. "So does this mean we should attack?"

"Not yet." Joey told him. "We wait for Yugi's signal."

Berserk Dragon continued its reckless attacks towards the swarm. But no matter how many Kuribohs it destroyed, several more appeared to take their place. The whole time Yugi calmly sat on the back of his horse and waited. This went on for several minutes, and over time as Kirito watched he suddenly noticed that the dragon's fireballs had been getting smaller and doing less damage. Each shot seemed to be weaker than the last. Eventually the fireballs became small enough that they could barely take out three of the little fur balls.

"Now!" Yugi ordered.

Joey suddenly produced a brown horn styled to look like a dragon and blew into it. Suddenly flying down from the sky was a slender black dragon with large wings and red eyes.

"You're a dragon tamer?" a surprised Kirito realized.

"Yep. Say hello to my friend, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon." Joey confirmed with pride. "Red-Eyes! Attack that zombie dragon with Black Fire Bullet!"

Red-Eyes reared back its head and shot Berserk Dragon in the back with a large red fireball. The first of Berserk Dragon's four HP gauges dropped down into the red zone. Yet the undead dragon continued its relentless attacks on the Kuriboh swarm. Its fireballs continued to grow smaller.

"Let's go, Kirito!" Joey told him as he jumped off the wall towards the dragon.

As he fell, Joey swung his sword and shot a massive blade of flames at the dragon. As the blonde swordsman landed on his feet in the corridor, the blade hit the undead dragon and took out most of the HP in its second gauge. Taking Joey's lead, Kirito jumped off the wall and onto Berserk Dragon's back. He flipped off the dragon and landed on the ground by the creature's feet. The dragon was too occupied with the Kuriboh swarm that it failed to notice Kirito at all.

Kirito began slashing wildly at the dragon's left leg. His attacks caused the creature to lose a gauge and a half of HP. Honda meanwhile had gotten down on his stomach and fired a shot through the dragon's neck, causing it to lose even more hitpoints.

Soon after, Anzu rose to her feet and raised her staff. "Holy Lightning Strike!"

A bolt of white electricity shot into the air from the orb on Anzu's staff. Less than a second later a massive bolt of white lightning came down from the sky and struck Berserk Dragon. It HP had dropped to a single sliver.

"Kuriboh dispel!" Yugi commanded.

The Kuriboh swarm vanished like smoke. With the swarm gone, Berserk Dragon began firing at Yugi. But its fireballs had become mere cinders.

"We better get back, Kirito!" Joey told him. "Yugi's about to finish this!"

Kirito nodded and he and Joey ran back towards the cave entrance. Once they were a safe distance back, Yugi raised his wand above his head.

"Darkness beyond the blackest night, come to my hand and give me the power to slay my enemies!" Yugi chanted. "Black Magic Nova!"

With a wave of his wand, Yugi sent forth a massive ball of crackling black energy at the dragon. The undead creature was struck and was vaporized in an instant. The other players that had been watching from the gate were awestruck. But after a moment they began to cheer.

"That was amazing!" an impressed Kirito praised as he walked up to Yugi. "But how did you know that plan would work?"

"An old man in the village spoke of a curse that the dragon had." Yugi explained. "He said that while the dragon's power was great, it power weakened the more it fought. And if it fought against an infinite army without rest, its power would eventually waste away to nothing."

"I get it. Whenever the dragon attacked, its stats would get lower." Kirito realized. "Its stats were pretty high to begin with though, so a regular attack force would be wiped out before its stats would drop low enough to make any real difference. But by creating that wall of regenerating wall of monsters for it to attack, you wore it out and made it weak enough for the five of us to take out."

"Well I hope you're all proud of yourselves!" Asuna complained as she stormed up to Yugi and Kirito. "What was it you were trying to prove? Were you trying to look like heroes or something?"

"I wasn't after anything of the sort." Yugi told her.

"My plan probably would've worked just as well." Asuna argued. "That dragon's stats still would've dropped if it attacked the NPCs."

"Actually it probably wouldn't have worked as well since the NPCs don't respawn as fast as those monsters Yugi summoned." Kirito pointed out. Asuna glared at Kirito, causing him to flinch.

"Asuna, there are some lines that should never be crossed even in a game where are very lives are at stake." Yugi told her. "Those NPCs like the ones in the village may not be alive, but they're still people. The moment we're willing to sacrifice their lives to save our own, we become no better than the player killers like the ones in Laughing Coffin."

Asuna was slightly unsettled by Yugi's comparison. Meanwhile, Kaiba walked up to Yugi with a glare on his face. The two starred at one another for several moments.

"Well Yugi, I guess I should congratulate you." Kaiba finally spoke. "That really was a brilliant move you pulled. But I won't tolerate a stunt like that again! Victory may be yours today, but from now on you stay out of my way!"

"Kaiba." Yugi responded.

Kaiba turned on his heel and headed back towards the village. "Asuna, order the others to make camp! We raid the dungeon tomorrow morning."

"Uh, yes sir." Asuna replied. She glared at Kirito one more time, causing him to flinch again. "You better not do anything stupid like that again."

With that, the orange-haired swordswoman left towards the village after Kaiba. Kirito breathed a heavy sigh as she stormed off.

"Hey Kirito." Joey spoke, getting his attention. "You did pretty good in that fight. How 'bout you have dinner with us tonight? Honda's actually gotten to be a pretty decent cook in this game."

"Sure. That actually sounds pretty good." Kirito agreed.

Night fell after a few more hours, and the players had all set up small camps all along the corridor to the dungeon. Tomorrow they had another rough fight ahead of them, but for tonight they could relax celebrate their latest victory. Kirito and the others ate dinner by a small tent that Joey and Honda had set up near the very spot where they waited for Yugi's order to attack. During the meal, Kirito found that he greatly enjoyed the company of Yugi and his friends. Despite being trapped in the game like everyone else, they still seemed to know how to have fun.

"You know, I really like hanging out with you guys." Kirito spoke, getting the attention of the others. "It's actually been awhile since I've spent this much time around people outside of a boss fight."

"You're an okay guy too Kirito." Honda replied.

"Hey, why not join our guild?" Anzu suggested. "We could use another player."

"Yeah! With a strong guy like you, Kirito, we could get out of this game no problem!" Joey enthusiastically agreed. "How 'bout it?"

"I don't think it's such a good idea." Kirito told them. "If I joined your guild I'd probably just cause problems. For one thing, I'm a beta tester. No, not just that. I'm what you'd call a beater."

"That doesn't matter to us." Yugi spoke as rose to his feet. "You're a strong player Kirito, but you can only get so far in this game on your own. If we united our strength, we can overcome any obstacle in this game. You would be a welcome addition to our team."

Kirito was a little surprised by Yugi's words. He suddenly found himself considering saying yes. Somehow Kirito felt that it wouldn't be like when he joined the Moonlit Black Cats. He had joined them because he wanted to protect them. But Yugi and his friends were strong enough to take care of themselves. Kirito also found himself remembering the advice he had once given Asuna about joining a guild he could trust. And he felt he could trust Yugi.

"Hello Kirito." A horribly familiar voice suddenly spoke, interrupting his thoughts. Kirito turned and rose to his feet to see Bakura standing a few feet away. "I heard you caused quite a stir here today."

Kirito's mind became clouded by hatred and he found himself reaching for his sword. "You bastard… this time you pay!"

"Kirito, wait!" Aznu called.

Kirito didn't hear her. He drew his sword and charged at Bakura, ready to take his head off. He wanted to make him pay for Sachi's death. But just as he was about to strike, Yugi pulled out his wand and shot a bolt of purple electricity that created a transparent barrier in front of Bakura, blocking his attack.

Kirito turned and looked at Yugi and the others in shock and confusion. "What… what the hell are you doing?"

"Oh didn't you know? Yugi and the other members of his guild are dear friends of mine." Bakura revealed. "We all entered this game together. But the moment Kayaba's scheme began, I decided to change my plans."

"What have you done Bakura?" Yugi demanded to know.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Bakura replied. "I think I'll be leaving now. Things seem to be getting a little heated around here. Until next time, Kirito."

With that, Bakura began to walk off. Before Kirito could catch him, he seemed to vanish into thin air. Kirito turned back towards Yugi and the others with hate still filling his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kirito." Yugi told him. "But I couldn't let you hurt Bakura."

"…So it's true. He's really a friend of yours?" Kirito asked. "Do you have any idea what that bastard's done?"

"Whatever he did, it doesn't matter!" Yugi told him. "It's more complicated than you realize. Bakura is still our friend and we can't let you kill him."

Kirito sheathed his sword and turned away from them. "I was an idiot to even think about joining you damn guild. From now on, all of you better stay out of my way. And if you ever get between me and that bastard again, I won't hesitate to cut you down."

"Oh yeah? Well we don't need someone like you around anyway!" Joey shot back as Kirito walked off. "Get lost!"

"I wonder what the other Bakura did?" Anzu asked.

"Whatever it is, it seems our worst fears have been realized." Yugi replied. "We may have no choice but to fight Kirito in the future."

* * *

Bakura sat on his throne drinking a glass of some sort of red liquid. Everything was going perfectly for him. Not only had he prevented Yugi and Kirito from joining forces, he had also made them enemies. The pieces were all moving the way he wanted them to.

"I think I understand your strategy now." Kayaba suddenly spoke from his mirror. "Whatever sort of creature you, it's clear that you're a parasite using that young man Bakura as a body. You're trying to use him as a shield to prevent your target from defeating you."

"Oh it's much better than that." Bakura told him. "Yugi will do anything to protect his friends, even fight Kirito. If I push Kirito's rage far enough, one of two things will happen. Either Kirito will kill Yugi for me, or Yugi will be forced to put him down."

"But aren't you taking a rather large gamble?" Kayaba asked. "If Kirito were to kill you in this game or if your target doesn't turn out to be the kind of friend to your host you're counting on, your host would die in the real world and your plans would be ruined."

"That's where you're wrong." Bakura revealed. "My host isn't bound by the same restrictions as the other players in this game. If I were to somehow be defeated, he would continue to live. I still need him to collect the rest of the Millennium Items. But Yugi and his friends don't need to know that."

"So now what do you intend to do?" Kayaba asked.

"Now that Kirito is playing the role I've cast for him, I can start on making Asuna my pawn as well." Bakura answered. "That girl is willing to do anything to clear this game. So I'm going to exploit that desire to its fullest."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I apologize for taking so long to really get Yugi and his friends into this story. There really wasn't a good way around it. While this is crossover between Yu-Gi-Oh! and Sword Art Online, it's based mainly on SAO. So the focus is mainly on Kirito and Asuna rather than on Yugi and the others. They will be playing a much bigger role from this point on though.

Anyway, this chapter was one of the first major events I had envisioned for this story. It came to me when a friend of mine and I were talking about the SAO episode where Asuna came up with that battle plan to let the boss monster they were up against kill those NPCs. We both agreed that it was the sort of move that Kaiba would make and Yugi would object to. So that became one whole chapter right there. Though I did have kind of a hard time deciding whether or not to use Berserk Dragon as the boss monster.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	8. Forest of the Dead

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 7: Forest of the Dead

It was the morning of April eleventh, 2024, and Kirito had decided to spend the day resting under a shady tree in a town park on the fifty-ninth floor. To Kirito, there were days even trapped in a virtual game when it was best to just take the day off. After all, there were still a lot of floors in the game still to be cleared and it was going to take time to clear them. As Kirito rested, he heard the sound of someone walking towards him. He opened one eye to see Asuna standing over him with her hands on her hips and a stern expression on her face.

"I thought I might find you here." Asuna told him. "Why aren't you out with the others clearing the next dungeon?"

"It's too nice a day to spend crawling around in some dungeon." Kirito answered.

"Every day we spend in this game is another day lost in the real world." Asuna reminded him. "That's why we need to clear this game as fast as possible."

"This is Aincrad's best season. It may not be real, but the weather's still perfect." Kirito retorted. "It wouldn't hurt you to enjoy it a little."

Asuna thought about what Kirito just told her. She had to admit that it really was a nice day. Perhaps it really wouldn't hurt to relax for at least a moment. At last Asuna relented and sat down under the tree near Kirito and began to take in her surroundings. It really was peaceful where they were. A gentle breeze was blowing and the only sounds to be heard were the occasional chirping of birds. Asuna let herself fully unwind, and before she knew it she had drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Bakura sat on his throne in the Ruby Palace watching a holographic screen. The screen showed an image of Kirito and Asuna resting under their tree. A scowl was on Bakura's face as he looked at he looked at the sleeping couple. The two of them together like that was not something he wanted. Meanwhile a floating purple flame burned in the center of the room surrounded by more holographic screens showing odd pieces of data.

"You seem displeased." Kayaba observed from his mirror. "Is something not going your way?"

"Kirito and Asuna are getting a little too close for my liking." Bakura admitted. "That is something I cannot let continue."

"You may have control over this world that I created, but it seems that perhaps not even you can fully predict and control human will." Kayaba noted.

"Don't be absurd." Bakura scoffed. "In this world I am a god. There is nothing beyond my control. Not even the players."

"And yet we have something happening between those two players that you never expected." Kayaba pointed out. "Perhaps your control is no as absolute as you think."

"This budding relationship is a minor problem, but it is one that is easily corrected." Bakura maintained. "As we speak, the item I've been creating for Asuna is nearly complete."

"What sort of item are you creating?" Kayaba asked.

"An item that contains a part of my being." Bakura revealed. "It will influence her and make her desire to escape the game even stronger. Over time it will become so great that she'll be willing to do anything to survive and get out. Even kill."

Suddenly a loud beeping noise echoed through the cavernous throne room. The purple flame exploded and the screens surrounding it vanished. The smoke cleared and the beeping stopped. Hovering in the middle of the room where the flame once burned was a small silver ring. Fitted in the ring was a small round red stone between two gold ridges that created the shape of the same eye-like symbol that was on the Millennium Puzzle and Millennium Ring. The item glowed with an eerie purple aura.

"At last it's finished." Bakura observed as a grin returned to his face. "Now to find the perfect ring bearer."

With a wave of his hand, Bakura caused another holographic screen to appear before him. He scrolled through the list displayed on the screen for a few moments before pressing on a certain name. Materializing in the center of the throne room before the ring was a foul-smelling wolf with matted grey fur and red mindless eyes. Its mouth hung open to let its purple tongue dangle and drip saliva on the floor, and small purple flames burned on parts of its body.

"A Plague Wolf. That will do nicely." Bakura decided. "And I do so enjoy playing with dead things. Now all I need to do is attach the ring and place it in the Forest of the Dead on Floor Fifty-seven."

The ring floated over and seemed to go inside the undead wolf. Afterwards the wolf vanished in a flash of blue light.

"There. Once the wolf detects Asuna in the forest it will go after her." Bakura revealed. "She'll be forced kill it to defend herself and end up obtaining the ring."

"And you're certain she'll use this item you created?" Kayaba asked. "How are you even going to get her to come to the forest?"

"Oh she'll use the ring, that you can count on." Bakura assured him. "And as for how I'll get her to come to the forest, all I need it the right bait."

* * *

Asuna slowly awoke from her sleep to find that the sun had already begun to set. She couldn't remember just when she had dozed off. But right away, Asuna saw Kirito perched on the wooden fence only a few feet away. In a flash she got to her feet and reached for the handle of her sword. After a moment though, Asuna quickly realized that Kirito had been standing guard.

"I… I owe you dinner." Asuna somewhat grudgingly told Kirito. "As thanks for standing guard."

"That sounds good." Kirito replied as he hopped of the fence. "There's a nice place to eat down on Floor Fifty-seven."

"Fine, but nothing too pricy." Asuna agreed.

Within a few minutes the two of them traveled down to the fifty-seventh floor and headed for the restaurant Kirito wanted to go. They walked and went straight to an available table. The place was not overly crowded, but there were quite a few other players there as Kirito and Asuna waited for an NPC waitress to come and take their order.

"I really do appreciate you staying with me while I was asleep." Asuna told him. "I still can't believe I dozed off like that, and for a whole day."

"The towns and cities in this game don't allow players to just kill one another." Kirito replied. "But if someone were to challenge you to a duel while you were asleep and use your hand to press the accept button, they can just kill you and you wouldn't even realize it."

"I know. It's pretty scary, actually." Asuna admitted. "I can't believe the kinds of players in this game that are willing to do that."

"Yeah, those player killers are the worst." Kirito agreed with a dark expression. "Especially the ones that know this isn't just a game and don't even care."

"Have you run into player killers before?" Asuna asked, noting that Kirito seemed quite familiar with the type.

"Yeah, a player by the name of Bakura." Kirito revealed. "He's the worst of them all."

Before Asuna could ask for specifics, a man suddenly staggered into the restaurant. He had long brown hair and a scruffy chin. A white headband covered his forehead and he had on a brown long-sleeved shirt with simple iron chest and shoulder armor. The stranger looked exhausted and his HP gauge was in the red. Kirito, Asuna, and many of the other players at the restaurant gathered around him.

"Are you okay?" a concerned Kirito asked. "What happened?"

"The rest of my guild and I were on our way to this town when one of the guys from Laughing Coffin suddenly jumped us." The stranger explained. "That guy was the craziest of them all! And he had some kind of freaky monster helping him. I'd never seen anything like it before."

"What happened to the rest of your guild?" Asuna asked.

"I'm one of the only two of us left!" the stranger revealed. "He wiped us all out!"

"And where's the other member of your guild that survived?" Kirito asked.

"He took her, man!" The stranger revealed. "The guy said if I wanted her back, I'd have to go to the Forest of the Dead to get her. But there's no way in hell I'm going into that place to get her, especially if I have to fight that guy again. That little dragon tamer may be cute, but she not worth risking my neck for."

"Wait, a dragon tamer?" Kirito asked. "Is she a young girl with a little feathered dragon named Pina?"

"Yeah. That's her." The stranger confirmed. "My buddies and I thought that having her in our guild would help us pick up babes. I mean a girl with a cute little dragon is something the ladies go nuts for, right? But I'm not throwing my life away just to save a mascot."

"You jerk!" Kirito cursed as he punched the stranger in the face, startling everyone.

"Hey man! What's your problem?" the stranger asked he was helped back to his feet.

"I can't stand players like you who treat their fellow guild members like items." Kirito told him. "And that mascot of your happens to be a friend of mine. You may not be willing to just let her die, but I'm not!"

"Kirito, wait!" Asuna called as Kirito headed for the door. "What are you going to do?"

"Sorry Asuna. Looks like you'll have to treat me to dinner later." Kirito told her. "Right now my friend Silica's in trouble. So I'm going to go save her."

"Then I'm coming with you." Asuna decided.

"Thanks, but I can take care of this on my own." Kirito assured her.

"Are you crazy? The Forest of the Dead is dangerous, especially now that it's night." Asuna pointed out. "Besides, I still owe you for earlier."

Kirito could see that Asuna wasn't going to take no for an answered. After finally agreeing, the two of them headed off. After a few minutes of traveling, they finally arrived at a large forest made up entirely of dead trees. The light of the moon above made the entire place foreboding, and all around them was an eerie mist that obscured their feet. As they wandered through the forest in search of Silica, Kirito noticed that Asuna looked uneasy.

"You okay?" Kirito asked.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Asuna replied.

"You know this forest is known for having undead and spectral monsters." Kirito recalled. "You aren't scared, are you?"

"What? I-I'm not scared!" Asuna fiercely denied. "A forest like this is no problem for me!"

"Uh-huh." Kirito replied with a smirk. It was obvious to him that Asuna really was on edge. "Why don't we stop and take a quick break? We've been walking for awhile now."

"Yeah… okay." Asuna agreed. With that, the two of them found a large rotting log by a tall tree and sat down on it. "Too bad we skipped dinner before we left. But luckily I have a couple of sandwiches I made earlier."

In moments, two delicious-looking sandwiches wrapped in paper appeared each of Asuna's hands. Asuna handed one of them to Kirito. Kirito took a bite out of the sandwich and was astounded. He had never before tasted anything like it before.

"This sandwich is… amazing!" Kirito declared.

"Yeah, I can cook. You don't need to make a big deal about it." Asuna told him. Kirito said nothing and they continued to eat. "…So this girl, Silica. How do you know her?"

"A few months ago I found her being attacked by monsters and saved her." Kirito revealed. "Her dragon got killed before I could get to her. So I helped her get a rare item that could revive it."

"So are the two of you close?" Asuna asked.

"It's not like that." Kirito answered. "She… kinda reminds me of my little sister."

At this, Asuna began to chuckle a little. "I'm sorry Kirito, that's just kind of cute."

"…Let's just finish eating before some monster decides to show up." Kirito told her with a look of embarrassment.

Before long, the two of them finished their sandwiches and were getting ready to continue their search. As soon as they got to their feet though, they both heard footsteps coming towards them. They reached for their weapons, but they soon found that it was only Yugi and the rest of his guild.

"Kirito!" a somewhat surprised Yugi spoke as soon as he saw the pair.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Kirito demanded to know, not once taking his hand off his sword.

"We didn't come to fight you, if that's what you're thinking." Anzu told him. "We heard in town that a girl was kidnapped by a member of Laughing Coffin."

"So like the big heroes you are, you came here to save her." Kirito observed.

"Yeah? Well what the hell are you doing here?" Joey responded.

"The girl who was captured happens to be a friend of mine." Kirito explained.

"If that's true, then we want the same thing." Yugi pointed out. "Why not work together?"

"We could use the help." Asuna pointed out.

"…Fine." Kirito agreed as he finally removed his hand from his sword. "But as soon as we save Silica, I want you guys to get lost."

"If that's what you want." Yugi agreed.

With that, the group began to venture deeper into the forest. Yugi and his three friends led the way while Kirito and Asuna followed from a few steps behind.

"Hey, I thought these guys were friends of yours." Asuna quietly recalled. "You certainly got along pretty well during the battle with the Berserk Dragon."

"Yeah, well that was before I really got to know them." Kirito explained. "You wouldn't believe their taste in friends."

Before Asuna could respond, she suddenly heard a growling noise behind her that caused her to stop and turn around. Emerging from the darkness was an undead wolf, a string of drool dripping from its mouth. Just as Kirito and the others noticed what was happening, the wolf charged and lunged through the air at Asuna. In a flash, Asuna drew her sword and destroyed the undead beast.

"You okay?" a concerned Kirito asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Asuna assured him. She then noticed that a screen had appeared before her to notify her. "Oh, looks like I got a new item. The Dark Ring of Wisdom."

"I've never heard of that item before. What does it do?" Kirito asked.

Asuna's eyes widened as she read the description. "This thing quadruples the amount of EXP a player earns in battle!"

"Whoa! Quadruple EXP?" a surprised Honda asked. "That sounds like a rare item."

"Hey. I'll buy it from ya." Joey offered.

"I'm not selling this!" Asuna told him. "An item like this could help me a lot."

After pressing a few things on her menu screen, the ring appeared on Asuna's right ring finger. She took a moment to admire it, and as she looked at it the gem in the ring gave off a faint red glow. At the same, her eyes also seemed to give off a faint red glow and she looked as though she had fallen into a trance.

Yugi noticed this and looked suspiciously at her. "Asuna, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Asuna responded as if snapped out of a daze. "I'm fine. Now let's get going. We have to find Silica."

Yugi let the matter dropped and continued deeper into the forest in silence. Eventually they came upon a large clearing. On top of a tree stump in the middle of the clearing was a girl who looked to be about thirteen years old. She brown hair styled with pigtails and wore a long red dress with silver chest armor. The girl was on her knees and a terrified expression was on her face. Clutched tightly in her arms was a small dragon with a body covered in light blue feathers.

Kirito immediately recognized the girl and began to run towards her. "Silica!"

The sound of his voice caused Silica to perk up. "Kirito?"

"Are you okay?" Kirito asked as he and the others reached the clearing.

"You have to leave, Kirito!" Silica told him. "You coming here is just what he wanted!"

"Silica, what…?" Kirito began to ask.

"Hello Kirito, Yugi." A horribly familiar voice greeted. Bakura emerged from the darkness behind Silica. "Nice night for a walk through the woods, isn't it?"

"You!" Kirito spoke in a hate-filled voice as he drew his sword.

"Bakura!" Yugi spoke. "You're the one who kidnapped Silica?"

"That's right, Yugi." Bakura confirmed. "I knew that this little girl was a friend of Kirito's, so I thought I'd entertain myself by making him watched as I killed her and her pet dragon."

"Hold on! The info we got in town said that Silica was captured by a member of that murder guild, Laughing Coffin." Joey recalled.

"Bakura, don't tell us that you're actually a member of that guild." Honda spoke.

"I'm more than just a member." Bakrua revealed. "I am the one who founded Laughing Coffin!"

"It… it can't be!" a horrified Anzu declared.

"So it seems this good friend of yours isn't the person you thought, huh?" Kirito coldly observed.

"Kirito, this is more complicated than you realize." Yugi told him.

"Save it!" Kirito shot back. "I'm going to do every other player in this game a favor by putting this monster down!"

"I'm with Kirito on this." Asuna agreed as she drew her own weapon. "Laughing Coffin has caused major problems for everyone, even the Knights of the Blood Oath. Taking out their leader will do major damage to them."

"You're both welcome to try." Bakura dared.

"Bakura! Don't you realize that this is more than just a game?" Yugi asked.

"Oh I know that very well, Yugi." Bakura assured him. "And I've never been more thrilled! In this world I'm free to do whatever I want! And once I kill you, I'm going to clear the game and take your Millennium Puzzle for myself in the real world!"

"I don't know what the hell you guys are talking about, but this ends now!" Kirito declared.

"Give me your best shot, Kirito." Bakura dared. "But you won't be facing me alone. You'll also be facing my servant, Diabound!"

Suddenly appearing behind Bakura was a massive demonic-looking creature with scaly grey skin. It had a muscular humanoid upper body and its lower half was a thick tail that ended with the head of a cobra. Its hideous face had a pair of beady red eyes and a mouth full of fangs. Fins were attached to the sides of the creature's head like ears, and jutting out from its forehead was a short horn. On its back was a pair of large almost bat-like wings. Kirito flashed back to the moment Sachi was killed upon seeing the beast. He remembered the cobra-like head that had struck Sachi in the back and recognized the same head on the end of Diabound's tail.

"All of you are fools if you think you can defeat me!" Bakura declared. "But try if you like. If you do, then I'll be happy to make this forest your grave!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Some of you reading may have noticed that I entirely skipped the episode where Kirito met Silica in this story. I want to make it clear that have nothing against Silica. But to me, the episode of the SAO anime that she first appeared in didn't really add much to the story. And beyond that she was never in any other episode in the first arc beyond a couple of cameos. So in this story I'm going to try and give her a more useful role, starting with her acting as a hostage.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	9. The Forest Trap

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 8: The Forest Trap

Kirito stood frozen before the monstrous creature that was Bakura's servant, Diabound. Not only was the demon quite large, but it had two HP gauges as well. And from the way it had killed Sachi, Kirito knew that it had some kind of power he had yet to understand. Kirito found that he was afraid of the creature, though it seemed that he was not alone in that fear. Asuna also stood trembling a bit before the beast, as were most of Yugi's friends. In fact the only one who seemed totally unafraid of Diabound was Yugi himself.

"Well go on." Bakura dared. "Aren't any of you going to try and face me?"

"Oh man! That thing's almost like a boss monster!" Joey observed.

"Bakura! I'm going to give you one last chance to end this right now!" Yugi warned.

"And what if I don't, Yugi?" Bakura asked.

"Then you leave me no choice." Yugi replied. "I'll destroy that servant of yours and do everything possible to have you imprisoned!"

"Go ahead and try!" Bakura told him.

"Very well!" Yugi responded as he pulled out his wand. "Demon of Lightning! I call upon you now to come to my aid! Appear, Summoned Skull!"

A bolt of yellow lightning shot from the end of Yugi's wand and hit the ground near the middle of the clearing. A massive blast of electrical energy shot up from the same spot and cleared after a moment to reveal a large humanoid demon. Much of its body was made of muscular purple sinew with parts covered in white bone, making it looked like some sort of twisted visual aid from an anatomy class on demons. Its head was a skull with thick horns that curved downward, and both of its arms ended in sets of three large claws. On its back it had a pair of black bat-like wings.

"Summoned Skull, attack Diabound!" Yugi commanded. "Demon Lightning!"

The demon roared like an angry cat as it raised its arms forward and shot a blast of yellow electrical energy at Diabound from its claws. Before the attack could hit, Diabound suddenly vanished into thin air. Summoned Skull's attack continued past Bakura and hit the trees behind him.

"Huh? What the hell happened?" Joey wondered.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that Diabound has a few special abilities?" Bakura responded. "The first of those abilities is called Shadow Camouflage. It allows Diabound to blend in perfectly with its surroundings, and its even stronger at night. The second ability Diabound has allows it to pass through solid walls and objects as though they were air. Both of those powers come in quite handy for a thief like me."

"Now I understand how you've been able to disappear those other times." Kirito realized. "And how you've been able to kill so many people at once!"

"Very good, Kirito. But you've yet to see one of Diabound's greatest powers!" Bakura revealed. "Diabound, destroy the Summoned Skull! Spiral Wave!"

In a split second, Diabound appeared behind Kirito and the others and fired a twister of raiser sharp air from its claws. Summoned Skull was hit from behind before it could even turn around and was cut to ribbons. The parts of the skull demon that remained after the attack shattered into polygons.

"And now, when Diabound slays an enemy monster it gains that monster's power!" Bakura revealed. "Diabound, attack these fools with Lightning Strike!"

The spirit beast fired wild bolts of yellow electricity from its claws at Kirito and the others. Kirito quickly dove into Asuna to the ground to prevent her from being hit by one of the lightning strikes. Yugi and Anzu meanwhile created an energy barrier around themselves, Joey, and Honda to block the attack. Suddenly the entire forest began to ring with strange gong-like sounds.

"A pity, just when things had gotten amusing." Bakura spoke. "It's time for me to go. We'll meet again Yugi, Kirito. That is if you can both get out of this forest alive."

With that, both Bakura and Diabound suddenly vanished into thin air. With her captor gone. Silica got off the tree stump and ran over the Kirito, who was just sitting up. Her blue dragon, Pina, was perched on her shoulder.

"You okay Silica?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Silica confirmed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Kirito answered.

"I don't get it. Why did Bakura suddenly take off like that?" Asuna wondered. "He had us right where he wanted us."

"Yeah. He could've just finished us off right here and instead he left." Honda agreed. "It doesn't add up."

"Bakura left right when we heard those noises." Kirito recalled. "Maybe he knew what those noises meant, which means that…"

"It's a trap!" Yugi finished as Kirito made his own realization.

Suddenly the sounds of the gong from before began to ring through the forest again. A second later a wave of fog enveloped the entire clearing, obscuring all vision. The fog cleared after a moment, and standing in the clearing was an entity that stood about seven feet tall and wore a tattered cloak and hood. Its face could be seen, if one could call it a face that is. Its skin was as white s a sheet and gave off an eerie glow. If it had a nose or mouth, Kirito and the others couldn't see them, but they could see its eyes. Its eyes were bright red and glowed like demonic headlights. Atop its head over the hood the creature wore a spiked crown that was made out of an otherworldly metal that had a silver quality to it. As a whole the creature looked like the grim specter of death itself.

The entity threw back his cloak, revealing not only his slender form but that he was wearing armor made from the same unearthly metal as his crown. On the front of its chest armor was a large round gemstone that glowed with an unearthly blue light. His right skeletal hand grabbed the handle of his sword and pulled it out very slowly, revealing that the blade was pitch-black. A second later a wall of blue flames ignited around the edge of the clearing, trapping Kirito and the others inside. Four HP gauges appeared by the entity's head, along with its name, Wraith King of the North.

"What the hell kind of monster is this?" a frightened Joey asked.

"It looks like some kind of hidden boss monster for this forest." Kirito deduced. "It must only show up at a certain time of the night."

"And Bakura knew when that time was, so he lured us here and kept us busy until that time." Yugi added.

"And you actually call that bastard your friend." Kirito responded.

"Kirito now's not the time to argue about this." Yugi pointed out. "Right no we have to worry about defeating this monster and getting out of this forest alive!"

"Then I guess this time we agree on something." Kirito replied. "Silica, you stay back while I take care of this."

With that, Kirito charged in and slashed the Wraith King across the stomach with his sword. But the blade seemed to pass through the entity like it was only air. Its HP didn't drop at all. The Wraith King then slashed Kirito across the chest faster than anyone could see. The force of the attack was strong enough to almost knock Kirito into the wall of flames surrounding the clearing. He managed to get back to his feet, but he had lost a little more than half his HP.

"You okay?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah, but it looks like normal attacks aren't going to do anything against this guy." Kirito observed.

"Then how 'bout this?" Joey responded as he drew his enchanted red sword.

With one swing, Joey sent a massive blade of flames at the Wraith King. The blade hit the wraith in the side, but passed through it without doing any damage. In the blink of an eye, the Wraith King suddenly moved in and struck Joey across the chest, taking off a lot of his HP. Honda then reach for his belt and drew a silver pistol on the dark entity. He fired for bullets that glowed with a green light right at the Wraith King's head. But they passed through it like the entity wasn't even there. The Wraith King responded by swiftly moving in and stabbing Honda through the chest. His HP went down into the red.

Yugi and Anzu fired bolts of black and white energy from their weapons at the wraith while his back was turned. The attacks did nothing except get the creature's attention. The Wraith King moved in and attempted to slash Yugi, but both he and Anzu managed to put up a magical barrier in time.

"Magical attacks don't work either?" Anzu realized.

"Damn it! How the hell are we supposed to beat that thing?" a frustrated Kirito asked.

Suddenly the gemstone set in Asuna's ring began to glow. Her eyes gave off a faint red glow as well. From Asuna's perspective, everything seemed to go grey, everything that was except for the gemstone on the Wraith King's chest armor.

"I've got this." Asuna told the others as she suddenly charged at the Wraith King.

Once in striking distance, Asuna struck the gemstone on the Wraith King's chest several times with her blade. The entity cried out in pain and his first HP gauge dropped to zero. The Wraith King recovered and swung his blade at Asuna. The swordswoman dodged the attack and moved in to strike again. Asuna's blade hit the gemstone a second time, taking out the entity's second gauge. After evading another attack, Asuna struck once more and took out the third gauge.

Suddenly the Wraith King's movements seemed to slow. He slashed at Asuna again, but she easily dodged the attack and struck the gemstone a fourth time. The Wraith King's remaining HP dropped to nothing and he shattered apart into polygons. Suddenly Asuna felt like her whole body was being electrified. But it wasn't painful. In fact it was extremely pleasant. As the wall of flames subsided, the strange feeling Asuna had passed and she fell to her knees.

"Asuna!" a concerned Kirito called as he ran to her side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… just got a little head rush for some reason." Asuna answered as Kirito helped her to her feet. "I'm fine though."

"Asuna, how did you know that monster's weakness was the gem on its armor?" Yugi asked.

"I don't know." Asuna answered. "It just came to me somehow."

Yugi looked suspiciously at the ring on Asuna's finger. "…I see."

"Well however you did it, thanks for saving our butts Asuna." Joey cut in. "Hey Yugi, let's get the hell out of here. This forest gives me the creeps."

Yugi nodded, and with that the Warriors of Unity headed out of the clearing. Kirito, Asuna, and Silica headed out as well in their own direction. After a few minutes of walking, Kirito and the girls had left the forest and were back on the dirt path that went towards town.

"Thanks so much for your help, Kirito." Silica told him.

"No problem." Kirito replied. "Just try and be more careful in the future, okay?"

"I will." Silica assured him. "Well, I'm going to go into town to spend the night. I'll see you around." With that, Silica quickly headed off down the path with Pina flying close behind.

"Hey Asuna, thanks so much for your help back there." Kirito told her.

"I'm just glad we got Silica out of there okay." Asuna replied. "So where are you headed?"

"I'm just gonna go back to the inn I was staying at back on the fifty-ninth floor." Kirito answered. "You?"

"Back to headquarters." Asuna responded. "Hey, you wanna add me to your friend list before you go?"

"Huh? Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" Kirito asked.

"I just thought it'd be a good idea." Asuna answered. "Besides, just because you're a solo player doesn't mean you can't have friends. So how 'bout it?"

"Yeah, okay." Kirito finally agreed.

* * *

Bakura sat atop his throne looking at a holographic screen. A smirk was on his face as he looked at the image of Asuna on the screen.

"It seems your trap worked." Kayaba observed from his mirror.

"Of course it did." Bakura replied. "Everything went perfectly. Now Asuna has the ring, and its influence has already started to kick in."

"There's something I don't understand. You could've finished off Yugi in the forest, yet you chose to go with the elaborate plan." Kayaba pointed out.

"I can finish off Yugi whenever I want. I merely want to savor the experience." Bakura explained. "Anything else would be a waste of this marvelous world you created. Now that Asuna has the ring I gave her, I can begin grooming her to become the ultimate player killer, one that Yugi would most likely try and stop."

"So you're hoping that such an encounter will lead to Asuna killing Yugi." Kayaba deduced.

"Yes, and if that doesn't work, I can get Kirito to deliver the killing blow by provoking him." Bakura replied. "Whatever happens, Yugi's death will be quite the show."

* * *

**Author's Note:** The monster that Kirito and the others ended up facing in this chapter, Wraith King of the North, is actually a creature I made up for another Yu-Gi-Oh! crossover I did. Specifically it was a crossover between Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Strawberry Panic called _GX: Dark Queen of Miator_. Of course I ended up changing the Wraith King of the North for this story by adding the weak spot that Asuna used to defeat it. But it was fun recycling something I did for a completely different story.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	10. Into Darkness

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 9: Into Darkness

_Asuna ran as fast as her legs could carry her through a vast expanse of ankle-deep water. The water itself had an odd red tint to it, and all around her was endless darkness. Despite the darkness, Asuna knew that something was chasing her. She could hear whatever it was coming after her, and she had no weapons to defend herself. The only thing she had on was a white dress with a long skirt that she had to hold up in order to run through the water._

_She looked back to see if she could figure out what was chasing her, then to her ultimate horror she saw what it was. It was a whole gang of monsters from MWO. All of them were of different kinds and from different floors. And there were far too many for her to count. Asuna could also see that it wasn't just monsters that were coming after her though. Mixed in with the horrid gang were player killers, mainly the ones from Laughing Coffin. Their black and brown hooded cloaks were a dead giveaway._

_Asuna kept running hoping to find a way out of wherever she was. But all she saw ahead of her was more darkness. No matter how far or how fast she ran the darkness was endless. Suddenly Asuna tripped and fell to her knees. She tried to get up only to find Bakura standing in front of her. A wicked grin was on the white-haired player killer's face. Asuna was frozen in terror as Bakura's demon servant Diabound appeared behind him. She knew that there was no getting past the two of them, and gaining on her was the hoard of monsters and player killers._

_Bakura then said something to Asuna, though she couldn't hear what it was. For some reason the sound of his voice didn't register. But she could tell that it was a single word, "die". The hoard that had been chasing her came ever closer, and at the same time Diabound raised the end of its tail. The cobra head on the end of the beast's tail then moved in to strike and deliver the killing blow._

* * *

Asuna shot up in bed and let out a scream. Cold sweat was dripping from her brow. As she caught her breath, reality began to sink in. It was merely another nightmare, certainly not the first one Asuna had in the game. She had been having nightmares almost every night since the game had started. Asuna had to admit though that this latest nightmare was by far the most vivid.

It seemed clear to Asuna that getting any more sleep that night was going to be an impossible task. She was far too on edge. Asuna glanced down and looked at her hand. She still had on the ring she had gotten in the Forest of the Dead earlier that evening. As she looked at the ring, an idea suddenly came to Asuna's head. If she wasn't going to be able to sleep, she decided that she would go out for a bit and release some tension.

After changing into her usual gear, Asuna headed out the door. She left the town she was in and ventured off towards a nearby forest. As she walked along the dirt path she suddenly heard a twig snap, causing her to reach for her sword. Appearing on her right were three humanoid wolf-like creatures. Each one of them had black fur and red eyes. They all wielded long swords and had on brown leather capes. Asuna had heard of the creatures before, they were called Pitch-Black Warwolves. Though she had never actually seen one before since they only came out at night.

The first of the three beasts charged at Asuna and slashed at her with its sword. Asuna sidestepped the attack and stabbed the creature in the chest, taking out a good chunk of its HP. The second of the wolves however came in and slashed Asuna across the back. Asuna took some damage but quickly recovered in time to turn around and deliver several swift blows to the second wolf's torso. The wolf shattered into polygons, leaving only two of the beasts left.

The third member of the wolf trio charged at Asuna, but Asuna easily took it out in seconds with several strikes to its chest. With the second of the wolves destroyed, Asuna quickly finished off the one that remained. The battle ended and Asuna suddenly felt an electrifying feeling rushing through her, causing her to drop to her knees. It was the same feeling she got when she defeated the Wraith King earlier that night, and it felt simply amazing. The feeling passed, and Asuna got back to her feet. But she found that she wanted to experience that feeling again. Asuna had no idea what the feeling was, but she found that it was addictive. The night was still young, so Asuna continued her path towards the woods.

* * *

From the throne room in the Ruby Palace, Bakura had seen Asuna's whole fight with the Warwolves. It was clear that the cursed game item he had arranged for her to get was working its power on her. And it was only just the beginning of her transformation.

"So, I take it the strange item you created is doing what you expected." Kayaba observed from his mirror.

"Yes, the ring has begun to make the nightmares that girl's been having far worse." Bakura revealed. "Now she's started to become addicted to the thrill of battle."

"And so you're hoping that will lead to her attacking other players." Kayaba assumed.

"Not quite." Bakura replied. "You're on the right track though. This transformation will take some time, but Asuna's voyage into darkness has already begun."

* * *

It was morning, and Asuna had gone to a small tavern to have breakfast. She was of course capable of cooking her own breakfast of course, but after spending much of the night in the forest slaying monsters she didn't quite have the energy for it. It had been a productive night though. Thanks to her new ring, her level had risen by ten. Asuna had decided to take a little break from battling for the day though.

As she had no duties to perform for the Knights of the Blood Oath at the moment, Asuna decided to see what she could do with the rare item she had obtained after defeating the Wraith King. It was an item called the Black Blood of Malice, and according to the description it was the blood of Wraith King and could be used as material to forge a weapon. Asuna's first thought was to take the item to Lisbeth to see if she could do anything with it, but she knew that Lisbeth had been quite busy lately making new weapons for the defense forces. So Asuna decided to try and find another blacksmith who might be able to help.

With her meal finished, Asuna began to ask some of the players in the tavern if they new of blacksmith shop she could try. Half of the players she talked to referred her to Lisbeth, and the rest didn't seem to know anything. With no one left to ask, Asuna decided to try talking to the NPC who ran the bar to see if he knew of a place. The bartender in question was an old bald man with a long grey beard. He was polishing the same glass for what was probably the fiftieth time that day as Asuna walked up to the bar.

"Excuse me." Asuna spoke, getting the bartender's attention. "I'm looking for a good blacksmith to maybe forge a new sword and was wondering if you knew of any."

"A blacksmith you say?" the bartender replied. "Well, there is one I know of, but he's kind of an odd duck. His place is really off the beaten path."

"Do you know where it is?" Asuna asked.

"It's in the middle of the Slumbering Woods down on the thirty-sixth floor." The bartender answered. "I warn you though, he's a bit strange. And the weapons he makes are said to be cursed."

"Well, I think I'll check him out anyway." Asuna decided. "Thanks."

With that, Asuna left the tavern and headed to the location the bartender told her about. Asuna felt a bit guilty for going to another blacksmith behind Lisbeth's back, especially one that was an NPC. She thought about perhaps waiting for Lisbeth to become a little less busy and taking the item to her then. But for some reason she was a bit anxious to get the Black Blood forged. Yet she couldn't explain why.

Before long Asuna had arrived at the Slumbering Woods. It was a small forest, yet the covering of the trees was so thick that they blocked out the sun. She found it odd that there would be a shop in the middle of such a remote location. After a few minutes of walking, Asuna came upon a clearing that had a small-dilapidated stone hut with a straw roof. Smoke rose up from a black pipe on top. As Asuna approached the structure, she saw a small wooden sign by the door that read, _Blacksmith's_. She had indeed come to the right place.

Asuna walked a few steps through the open door to find an old man sitting in the darkness. He was clothed in black and had strange pale skin. His eyes were oddly yellow and he had a long whiskery mustache. The old man held a long slender pipe in his lips.

"Uh, excuse me." Asuna spoke, getting the old man's attention.

"Ah! Welcome, welcome young lady." The old man greeted as he suddenly got up. "I am Garam, a humble blacksmith. What may I ask brings someone like you to my little shop?"

"Well, last night I got my hands on a very rare item." Asuna explained as she brought up her menu screen. "I was told you might be able to forge it into a weapon."

After selecting the item, a large jar full of a strange black liquid appeared in Asuna's hands. The old man's eyes seemed to light up upon seeing it.

"Ah, the Black Blood of Malice." The old man identified as he walked up. "That is indeed rare. I can definitely forge this for you. What sort of weapon did you have in mind?"

"Well, can you make it into a rapier?" Asuna asked.

"Of course, of course." Garam answered as he eagerly took the jar with spindly hands that had long yellow fingernails. "Though it will be somewhat expensive. About three thousand Col."

"Three thousand?" a stunned Asuna repeated.

"Quality has its price, my dear." Garam pointed out. "But I can assure you the sword I forge will be worth it."

"Well… okay." Asuna finally agreed. "How soon can you have it finished?"

"Come back here this same time tomorrow." Garam told her. "Your sword will be ready by then."

* * *

Bakura sat waiting on his throne at the headquarters of Laughing Coffin. He knew that Asuna had gone to get a new sword forged, so it was time to put the next phase of his plan into action. After what seemed like over half an hour, a young man in a brown hooded cloak walked into the cave and kneeled before him. Bakura knew this member of his murder guild as a player called Gasher. Gasher was not one of the stronger members of Laughing Coffin, but for the job Bakura had in mind he was the prefect candidate.

"How may I serve you, my master?" Gasher asked.

"You took your time getting here." Bakura told him.

"Forgive me, my lord. I was in the middle of trying to ambush a pair down on floor fifteen." Gasher explained.

"And why were you going after such small fry?" Bakura asked.

"Well, I…" Gasher nervously began.

"Never mind. I have a mission for you." Bakura informed him. "Tomorrow afternoon on floor thirty-six in the Slumbering Woods, a girl will be going to retrieve a rare item she's having made by an NPC blacksmith, a sword with impressive power. I want you to ambush her on her way back and take the sword."

"I will not let you down, master." Gasher assured him before quickly leaving the cave.

"Oh I know you won't, Gasher." Bakura quietly spoke. "I'm sure you'll play your roll as cannon fodder perfectly."

* * *

Asuna traveled once more through the Slumbering Woods towards Garam's shop. She was quite tired due a lack of sleep. Last night she had the same nightmare as before, and it was just as vivid as the last time. So once again she had gone out to the woods to do some monster slaying for much of the night. The battles had given Asuna quite the rush. She wondered perhaps if it had something to do with the ring. One thing she knew for sure though was that thanks to the ring her level had climbed even higher than before.

At last Asuna had reached the shop. Upon entering, Garam immediately got up from his normal sitting place and put down his pipe.

"You're right on time." Garam told Asuna as he went over to a dark corner of the hut. "I only finished your new sword just moments ago."

With that, the old man handed Asuna a black sword and sheath. It was a rapier that looked very much like the sword Lisbeth had forged for her, Lambent Light. The one major difference besides the color was that the gem in the crossguard looked like a demonic red eye with a slit pupil.

"So this is it, huh?" Asuna asked.

"I call it Blood Shadow, the Sword of Cold Flame." Garam answered. "Its enchanted blade produces fire colder than the bitterest winter. Any enemy pierced by this sword will be left paralyzed by its flames for at least ten minutes. More than enough time to deliver the killing blow."

"Wasn't expecting a sword like that." Asuna told him as she examined the weapon. "But it looks pretty good. Thanks."

"Come again." Garam replied as Asuna left the shop.

On her way out of the woods, Asuna packed away Lambent Light into her inventory and made Blood Shadow her main weapon. About halfway out of the forest, Asuna heard a noise that made her stop and reach for her sword. Suddenly Gasher swung down from the branch of a tree and kicked her in the chest with both feet. Asuna was knocked to the ground and Gasher jumped down to stand over her.

"Well, you're a pretty little thing." Gasher spoke with an insane grin as he pulled out a dagger. "Taking the sword that Lord Bakura wanted should be no problem. But I think I'm going to take my time and have a little fun first."

Thinking quickly, Asuna swung her left leg into Gasher's, knocking the fiend off balance. She then rolled out from under him and got back to her feet just as he got back to his. As Asuna drew her new sword, the blade flashed briefly with ice blue flames.

"I like a girl with spunk." Gasher responded. "Come on, show me what you've got!"

Asuna charged in and struck Gasher several times in the chest with her blade, which lit with flames as it pierced him. Gasher's HP went into the red and his skin turned deathly pale. He dropped his dagger and suddenly collapsed to the ground on his back.

"Wh-what's happening?" a frightened Gasher asked. "Why can't I move?"

"Looks like this sword really does paralyze whoever it's used on." Asuna coldly observed as she sheathed her blade. "Don't worry. It'll only last for about ten minutes."

"Aren't you at least going to take me out of here?" Gasher asked as Asuna walked away. "I mean I'm a sitting duck like this!"

"You just tried to kill me and you're asking me for mercy?" Asuna responded, not once stopping or turning back. "The way I see it, you pretty much deserve what you get. These woods do have a low monster encounter rating though, so unless you're really unlucky nothing will happen. But you're not my problem."

Asuna continued out of the woods. As she reached the edge of the trees, she heard a growling noise behind her followed by a scream that sounded like Gasher's voice. Asuna had a pretty good idea what happened, but she found she didn't care all that much. Gasher deserved whatever he got. Punishment for all the other players he hurt or killed. The only thing Asuna really cared about at that moment was getting out of the game alive, and she was going to do whatever it took to do that.

* * *

**Author's Note:** In the beginning when I started watching the SAO anime, I didn't really like Asuna that much. But I understood the attitude she took towards trying to clear the game. And for this crossover I thought it'd be fun to do something that would cause her to take that attitude to the extreme. Thus we have this little storyline.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	11. Tomb of the Sun

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 10: Tomb of the Sun

It was a sunny morning on the day of May twenty-first, 2024. Kirito had arrived at a large city on the sixty-third known as Karos. He had come to the city hoping to find Silica. There was something he had wanted to talk to the young dragon tamer about for quite some time. As Kirito navigated his way through the crowded street full of small shops and people, he spied a familiar brown-haired girl with a small blue dragon perched on her shoulder. There was no mistaking who the girl was. Silica was busy looking at a set of knives being sold at one of the roadside stands.

"Hey Silica!" Kirito called as he quickly walked over, getting the girl's attention.

"Oh, hi Kirito." Silica greeted with a smile. "I didn't expect to run into you today. So what brings you here?"

"Well, there's something I've wanted to ask you about for awhile now." Kirito revealed. "Mind if we talk over lunch?"

"Sure!" Silica agreed. "Lunch is on you though, right?"

"Yeah, no problem." Kirito replied.

With that, the two of them traveled to a small but stylish café at the end of the street. They ended up seated at a table on the patio. After Kirito ordered, the time had come for them to get down to business.

"So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Silica asked.

"Well… I was wondering if you could teach me all you know about beast taming." Kirito explained.

"Huh? How come you want to know about that all of a sudden?" Silica responded.

At this, Kirito's expression darkened. "It's because of Bakura."

"You mean that crazy guy who kidnapped me last month?" Silica asked.

"That monster of his, Diabound. It's stronger than a lot of the other monsters I've fought in this game." Kirito pointed out. "If Yugi and those friends of his hadn't been there, I don't think I wouldn't have been able to save you. Just I like wasn't able to save…"

"Save who?" Silica asked.

"…Never mind." Kirito finally responded as he pushed the memory of Sachi's death from his thoughts. "Look, I want to be ready if I ever run into that bastard again. So how 'bout it Silica?"

"Well, I'd love to be able to help you Kirito. But beast taming isn't something you can just teach. Especially not dragon taming." Silica told him. "It's a very rare skill that only a few players have. And no offense, but I can tell that you don't have it just by looking at you."

Kirito let out a defeated sigh. "I was afraid you were gonna say that."

"If you had chosen to be a magic user instead of a warrior, you could've learned summoning magic." Silica reminded him. "But it's a little late for that."

"Isn't there any other option?" Kirito asked.

"Well… there are two things you could try." Silica revealed. "You could try making a pact with a demonic monster. I think that's what that Bakura guy did. But there are supposed to be consequences with those kinds of pacts. Plus depending on how powerful the monster, one of the requirements for making the pact might be to kill other players."

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Kirito told her. "What's the second option?"

"The only other thing you could try to do is get your hands on a mystic summoning item." Silica answered.

"A summoning item?" Kirito repeated.

"Yeah, they're items that let a player summon a special monster or NPC to help out in battle." Silica explained. "Any player can use them. But they're very rare, and a lot of the monsters and NPCs they summon aren't really good for using in battle. They're intended more for stuff like healing and tracking."

"But there are some that can be used for battle, right?" Kirito asked. "It may be a long shot, but it's better than nothing. Do you know where I might be able to find one of these items?"

"Like I said, they're very rare." Silica reminded him. "The only place you can find one is in a dungeon, and they're really well hidden. It'd probably be a pretty long search."

"I know where you might be able to find one, Kii-bou." A familiar voice spoke, startling Silica. Kirito looked to see Argo the Rat standing right by his chair.

"Oh, hey Argo." Kirito greeted. "What brings you here?"

"I was just passing by when I overheard the conversation you and your little friend were having." The hooded girl explained. "I know where you can find the kind of item you're looking for."

"How much?" Kirito asked.

"Well, seeing as I like you Kii-bou, I'm going to let you have this bit of info for five hundred Col." Agro answered.

"That's pretty generous." Kirito remarked. "But let's hear what you got."

"You know that desert region down on floor sixty-one? There's an Egyptian pyramid right in the middle of it." Argo revealed. "It's called the Tomb of the Sun, and inside there's a golden sphere that let's a player summon a powerhouse monster to do battle."

"That's exactly what I'm looking for." Kirito responded as he excitedly stood from his chair.

"There's kind of nasty rumor about the item though." Argo continued. "The word is that certain players can use it. And the players that can't get burnt to a crisp as soon as they touch it."

"Kirito, I don't going after an item like this is such a good idea." Silica told him.

"I'm willing to take the risk." Kirito responded. "Besides, it's only a rumor. Right?"

"That's for you to find out, Kii-bou." Argo replied with a grin.

* * *

Kaiba sat in his office at the Knights of the Blood Oath headquarters. He had called Asuna to come see him and had been waiting for ten minutes. The waiting was starting to irritate him. At last Asuna entered the room. Kaiba noticed that she looked pale and that she had changed parts of her uniform. It now included black chest and shoulder armor and a black belt with a red gemstone on the buckle.

"You're late!" Kaiba told her.

"Sorry sir." Asuna responded. "I was busy training."

"I admire your dedication to making yourself strong, but you still have duties to perform." Kaiba reminded her. "In any case, I called you down here because I have a mission for you. You're to lead a party down to the desert region on floor sixty-one. According to the information I was told, there's a pyramid in that desert that's said to contain a very rare item. One that could greatly help our efforts to clear this game."

"How accurate is the information?" Asuna asked.

"Hard to say. It was purchased from a broker named Argo the Rat." Kaiba answered. "By all accounts, she seems like a very shady character. But her information has been known to be quite accurate in the past. Either way, it's up to you to find out."

"I understand." Asuna replied.

"I've already selected the team you'll be using." Kaiba informed her. "You'll be leaving within the hour. That is all."

"Very well." Asuna responded before turning and leaving the office.

* * *

Kirito had been wandering through the vast desert on the sixty-first floor for what seemed like four hours. The desert winds and sands were making his travel a difficult task. But at last he had arrived at the large pyramid of sundried brick. After a few moments of searching he found the opening that would take him inside the tomb. Several torches mounted to the walls lighted the corridor within. Kirito examined the map data that Argo had sold him and went in the direction that would supposedly take him to the item he was after.

Only after taking five steps into the tomb, Kirito heard other footsteps coming from behind him. He turned and reached for his sword. But after a moment the newcomers had come close enough for Kirito to see who it was. He was relieved to fins that it was only Klein and the rest of his guild.

"Oh, hi Kirito." Klein greeted. "Didn't expect to find you here."

"Me either." Kirito replied. "Did Argo tell you about this place?"

"Yeah. She told us that this tomb's filled with treasure and a whole bunch of rare items." Klein revealed.

"She gave us this info pretty cheap too." Klein's friend Dale added.

"I also got a pretty good deal on this place from Argo." Kirito revealed. "Which means she's probably sold this info to a bunch of other people already."

"Wait, so you mean we're not the only ones who're after the stuff in this tomb?" Klein realized.

"I think that's a pretty safe bet." Kirito confirmed. "Which means if we want to get at those items, we'll have to move pretty quick."

"Then you lead the way Kirito." Klein told him. "We'll be happy to split whatever we find with you fifty-fifty."

"Actually I'm only after a specific item. So you guys can take the rest." Kirito told them.

"For real?" Klein asked. "Well in that case, let's get going!"

* * *

Asuna traveled through the desert towards the pyramid. With her were Kuradeel and four other members of the Knights of the Blood Oath. They had been wandering through the desert for quite a ways, but at last they could see the pyramid in the distance.

"Looks like we're almost there." Kuradeel observed.

"About damn time!" one of the other knights remarked. "I'm getting tired of this desert."

"Let's just keep moving." Asuna told them. "As soon as we're done, we can head back."

"You're not going anywhere, I'm afraid." A horribly familiar voice spoke. Asuna and the others turned around to see Bakura and two other men in black hooded cloaks standing behind them.

"It's Laughing Coffin!" the second of the knights realized as they all drew their swords.

"I never thought we'd run into scoundrels like you in this desert." Kuradeel told them.

"Why are you here Bakura?" Asuna asked. "You guys after this rare item we've heard about?"

"A rare item you say?" Bakura responded. "My underlings and I are merely here on a scouting expedition. This desert is a good place to ambush players, like you."

"Well this time you picked the wrong targets!" the third of the knights declared. "In case you haven't noticed, we outnumber you guys two to one!"

"I wouldn't be so sure." Bakura told them. "Did you all know that necromancy is a highly-valued skill among the members of Laughing Coffin?"

With that, Bakura's two henchmen suddenly began chanting in a strange language and bent down. Upon touching their hands to the ground, the sand gave off a strange red light. Hands began to burst up from the ground, and in a flash a hoard of decaying mummies that had returned to life surrounded Asuna the others.

"What… what the hell?" one of the knights exclaimed.

"How do you like the Wandering Mummies?" Bakura asked. "A single one is no threat, but an army of them is a whole other matter!"

The hoard of mummies began to advance on them. The knight began cutting the creatures in half, destroying them in an instant. But they just kept coming. At the same time, Bakura charged in and slashed his sword at Asuna. Asuna easily blocked the attack and tried to strike back at Bakura. But the king of thieves was able to jump back to avoid the attack. Before the battle could get very far, Asuna heard a scream.

Asuna looked and saw that three of the mummies had surrounded one of her fellow party members and grabbed onto him. One of them bit down on his neck from behind while two others bit his arms. His HP dropped to nothing and he shattered into polygons. A second later three more of the nights were enveloped and pulled to the ground. Asuna could hear the sounds of their screams and their bodies shattering apart.

"Oh dear, it looks you're friends couldn't last very long against the mummies." Bakura observed with a smirk. "It won't be very long before you and that other knight share the same fate."

In an instand Asuna snapped and began slashing the mummies apart. She slew about eight of them before Bakura charged at her from behind. But before he could strike, Kuradeel dashed in and intercepted his attack. The sound of their clashing blades caught Asuna's attention.

"Commander Asuna! Please leave this area immediately!" Kuradeel requested. "I'll handle this fiend on my own!"

"But Kuradeel!" Asuna tried to argue.

"Don't worry about me!" Kuradeel told her. "My life is nothing compared to yours. You're far too important to the guild to die here!"

"How noble of you." Bakura remarked. "Too bad your efforts will be for nothing."

Before either Asuna or Kuradeel could respond, a massive ball of molten red flames came down and destroyed a large part of the mummy hoard. Everyone looked up to see the Red-Eyes Black Dragon with Joey riding on its back. The dragon reared back its head and took out another chunk of the hoard with a second fireball. Soon after, they heard the sound of horses galloping towards them. They all looked to see that it was Yugi, Honda, and Anzu. All three of them were riding white horses.

"Yugi!" Bakura observed with an expression of irritation. "What's he doing here?"

"Master, what do you wish us to do?" one of Bakura's necromancers asked.

"We're getting out of here!" Bakura ordered. "Now's not the time to deal with Yugi."

With that, the necromancers snapped their fingers and the remaining mummies vanished. A second later, Bakura and his two minions vanished as well. Asuna knew that Diabound was the cause. A few seconds later, Red-Eyes landed near Kuradeel and Asuna. Yugi and the others stopped before them a few seconds later.

"Asuna, are you alright?" Yugi asked.

"Where the hell were you guys a few seconds ago?" Asuna angrily demanded to know. "We just lost four people to that psycho!"

"Sorry, but we didn't see you guys being attacked until just now." Honda explained.

"If only I had seen you guys sooner." Joey spoke.

"We thank you for your assistance." Kuradeel told them. "But if you don't mind me asking, what has brought you here?"

"We came because Joey heard about some rare item and wanted to get his hands on it." Anzu explained.

"I'm really in the mood for that now guys." Joey admitted.

"Yeah, we might as well head." Honda agreed.

"Kuradeel, we're going back to headquarters." Asuna ordered.

"But commander, what about our mission?" Kuradeel asked.

"I don't give a damn about that right now!" Asuna snapped. "We're the only two people in our party left. And for all we know there could be more members of Laughing Coffin waiting to ambush us."

"Yes, it is possible that this rumor of a rare item could be some kind of trap." Kuradeel admitted. "Your judgment is wise, commander."

"Asuna, are you sure you're okay?" a concerned Yugi asked.

"I'm fine. Now leave me alone." Asuna coldly told him. With that, both she and Kuradeel pulled out blue teleport crystals and vanished.

* * *

Kirito and the members of Fuurinkazan had been wandering though the tomb for quite some time. Their path had taken then upward through the pyramid towards the chamber that was said to contain treasure. After what seemed like an eternity of walking, the group finally made it to an archway that looked to be made of gold. Carved at the top was an inscription written in hieroglyphics.

"Looks like we finally made it." Klein observed with a sigh.

"Yeah, but I wonder what that writing over the door says?" asked Klein's friend, the Harry One.

"Beyond this point lies the resting place of the sun god Ra." Kirito read as he looked at the inscription. "Woe to thee who seeks to use the god's powers for his own greed. For only the chosen can wield his power. Those with impure hearts who seek to use Ra's power for their own greed will be burned to ashes."

Klein and the others looked at Kirito from behind with slack-jawed amazement. Though Kirito was unaware of their reaction.

"Uh, how did you do that?" Dale asked.

"Do what?" an oblivious Kirito asked.

"Seriously man, do you have some kind of weird translating skill we didn't know about?" Klein's other friend Dynamm asked.

"Maybe he just learned it in school." Klein's friend Issin assumed.

"What the heck are you guys talking about?" Kirito asked.

"Kirito, that stuff above the door is written in Ancient Egyptian." Klein told him. "How the heck do you know how to read it?"

Kirito looked back up at the door. He could clearly see that the writing was writing in Ancient Egyptian. Yet for some reason he could read it as clearly as he could read Japanese.

"I don't…" an unsettled Kirito spoke. "Look, let's just go in!"

Kirito proceeded onwards through the archway. Klein and the others looked at each other for a moment and shrugged before heading after him. Beyond the archway, Kirito and the others saw a breathtaking sight. Scattered throughout the large chamber were piles of gold, jewels, and items that looked like weapons. Meanwhile in the center was a massive golden sphere that looked almost like some kind of puzzle.

"Oh man… we hit the mother load!" the Harry One excitedly declared.

"So Kirito, do you know which item it is you're after?" Klein asked.

"I think… it's that golden sphere in the middle of the room." Kirito answered.

"Huh? How the hell are you gonna get that out of here?" Klein asked.

"Dunno. But I'll figure it out." Kirito answered.

Before the group could make a move though, they all heard a bunch of clicking noises behind them. It was the familiar sounds of guns being cocked. They slowly turned to see seven men standing in the passageway behind them. They were all dressed in black cloaks and wore silver helmets, and six of the men were aiming guns at them.

"That's far enough, boys." The seventh man who was not holding a gun to them spoke.

"Who the hell are you?" Klein demanded to know.

"The name's Clint." The man answered. "I'm the leader of the Silver Bullets."

"Oh man, that magic gunman guild?" Dale asked.

"That's right." Clint confirmed as calmly walked past them into the chamber. "And like your friend there, I've come for that gold ball in the center of the room."

"What the heck's the deal with that ball?" Klein asked.

"This my friends, is an item that can summon a powerful monster that can take out entire armies." Clint explained as he approached the sphere. "With a monster like this at my command, my guild and I will no longer be considered a walking joke."

With that, Clint put his right hand to the sphere. The sphere began to glow with a golden light, causing him to grin. But suddenly the light stopped and Clint's arm caught on fire. In moments his body became covered in golden flames and soon burnt to nothing. Kirito and the others were left shocked.

"What… what the hell?" one of the other gunmen exclaimed.

"Commander Clint… he's dead!" a second of the gunmen realized.

"What do we do now?" a third gunman asked.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting the hell out of here!" one of the gunmen at the rear decided before running off into the tomb.

The other gunmen looked at each other for a moment before following their fellow guild member's lead. Klein and the others looked back at the sphere.

"Guys, I think we should get out of here." Klein decided. But as he said this, Kirito had already begun walking towards the sphere. "Hey Kirito! What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm gonna try and take that sphere." Kirito told them.

"Are you crazy?" Klein asked. "You'll be killed!"

"No. Somehow I think it'll be different with me." Kirito told them.

Kirito stood before the sphere and took a deep breath. As he slowly raised his hand he thought about the reason he had come to claim the sphere. It wasn't simply to get revenge against Bakura. He hated Bakura, but he wanted the sphere for another reason. He wanted to keep Bakura from killing anyone else. As soon as Kirito placed his hand on the sphere, it began to glow with a golden light. In moments the light became brighter and seemed to fill the entire room.

* * *

_Kirito suddenly found that he was flying through a tunnel of light. Suddenly a flood of images began to appear before his eyes. First he saw the kingdom of Ancient Egypt back in the distant time when it was new. Then he saw the interior of a large throne room. He got a clear image of the pharaoh that was sitting atop the throne, and was shocked to find that he looked just like Yugi. There were some slight differences, but it was definitely Yugi._

_Soon Kirito noticed that there six other people standing in the room as well. One of them was a muscular man with black hair who held a golden scale in his right hand. Another was a bald man in white who had a golden anhk-shaped key hanging from his neck. The third person was an old man in white robes. Instead of a normal eye, the old man seemed to have a prosthetic golden eye that looked like the symbol on the front of Yugi's pendant._

_The fourth person in this group was a beautiful-looking woman in white who wore a gold necklace around her neck that bore the same eye-like symbol. The fifth was a man who wore a white cloth on his head and had a strange ring-like pendant handing from his neck. The sixth member of this group was a young man dressed in blue. In his right hand he held what looked like a golden scepter that had two blades at the top and the same eye-like symbol on the front. The thing that startled Kirito the most about this young man was that he looked exactly like Kaiba._

_After a moment, Kirito noticed two other people in the throne room. Standing on the Pharaoh's left by the throne was a young woman dressed in white. A single sword was hanging at her waist. Kirito was shocked to find that the young woman looked exactly like Asuna. Standing to the right of the Pharaoh's throne was a young man clad in black armor. He had a pair of swords hanging from his waist. When Kirito took a good look at the young man's face, he was shocked to find that he was looking at his own._

_All these images seemed familiar to Kirito, yet he could not place how he knew them. Suddenly the images started coming to him faster and faster. It was far too much for him to take. Kirito almost felt like his head was going to explode. Then after a few moments everything went white._

* * *

Slowly Kirito opened his eyes. Klein and the others were standing over him with concern. Kirito felt as if his head had been put in a vice.

"You okay man?" Klein asked.

"What… what happened?" Kirito asked as he slowly sat up.

"Well, the good news is that it looks like you were worthy of that sun god… or something." Dale explained.

"Jeez Kirito, what the hell were you thinking?" Klein asked.

Suddenly Kirito recalled the reason why he had come to the tomb in the first place. He looked to his right and saw that the gigantic golden sphere had vanished. Quickly Kirito brought up his menu screen and looked through his item inventory. At the bottom of the list was a new item called The Orb of Ra. He clicked on it to read the description, only to find that it was written in Egyptian text.

Klein looked over his shoulder to get a look. "What the heck…? They expect people to be able to read that stuff?"

"It just says that the god will only awaken in the service of the Pharaoh." Kirito told him as he looked at the text.

"What does that mean?" Dynamm asked.

"Probably nothing." Kirito wearily replied as he got to his feet. "Looks like this quest was a bust after all. No wonder Argo gave me such a deal on the info."

"So now what?" Klein asked.

"The rest of the items in this room should be okay to touch." Kirito told them as he headed for the door. "I'm sure Agil can give you a good deal on anything you can't use."

"What're you gonna do?" Dale asked.

"I'm going to an inn to get some sleep." Kirito answered with a wave of his hand. "Later."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Anyone care to guess what monster that sun sphere summons? I'm sure I made it pretty obvious. As for the little flashback Kirito had in this chapter, that will become clear in time.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	12. Hearts of Fire and Ice

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 11: Hearts of Fire and Ice

It was a calm afternoon on the day of June twenty-fifth, 2024. Lisbeth was resting in a rocking chair in the backroom of her shop on the forty-eighth floor. She had been forging swords for most of the day and decided that she needed a break. There was a downside to being one of the best blacksmiths in MWO. With the prestige also came an immense workload. But Lisbeth enjoyed the work. Though with so many orders, there were very few times when she could just take a few minutes for herself.

Just as Lisbeth was about to doze off in her chair, the bell over the door to the shop rang. It seemed she had a new customer. Upon entering the front of the shop, Lisbeth saw Kirito examining some of the swords she had on display.

"Welcome." Lisbeth greeted as she headed to the front desk. "How can I help you today?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could forge a special sword for me." Kirito explained.

Lisbeth carefully eyed the swordsman in black from head to toe. "I don't know. Custom orders aren't cheap, and you don't look like a guy who has a lot of cash on him."

"Trust me, money's no issue." Kirito assured her.

"Well then, what kind of sword do you want exactly?" Lisbeth asked.

"I want a sword that's just as strong or even stronger than this one." Kirito answered as he drew his own black sword and placed it on the table.

Lisbeth began her examination of the black blade and looked at its info. "Eludicator, a demon sword? This is the kind of sword you can only get from monster drops!"

"Yeah, so can you make a sword like that?" Kirito asked.

"Well, you could try this one." Lisbeth suggested as she placed a silver-green sword hanging on the wall on the table.

Kirito picked up the sword to examine it. "Hmm… it's pretty light. I'm not sure if this sword is good enough."

"What? This happens to be the best sword I ever made!" an offended Lisbeth informed him.

"There's one way to find out how good it is." Kirito spoke as he held Lisbeth's sword with his left hand and raised his own sword with his right. "If it doesn't break against my sword, then it's just what I'm looking for."

"Now wait a minute!" Lisbeth protested.

Ignoring Lisbeth, Kirito swung down his own black sword as hard as he could onto the blade of Lisbeth's green one. The black blade cut the green one in half. The piece that flew off went across the room and hit the floor before shattering into polygons. A sort of tense hush fell over the room as Lisbeth looked at her ruined blade with a look of shock.

After a few moments, Lisbeth's expression changed from shock to rage. "You jerk! Who the hell do you think you are coming into my shop and breaking my best sword?"

"Look, I'm sorry." Kirito told her. "I guess maybe it was too much for me to expect to find a sword as strong as mine in some shop."

"Now you wait just a damn minute, buster!" Lisbeth protested. "I could make twelve swords that could break your monster drop sword in half if I had the right material!"

"Well, what kind of material do you need?" Kirito asked.

"You know the Western Mountain on floor fifty-five?" Lisbeth asked. "There's a dragon there that eats crystals and produces a rare metal. If we can get some of that metal, I can make you the strongest sword that you've ever seen."

"Okay, then I'll just go and head to that mountain." Kirito decided as he began to head for the door. "I'll be back when I get the metal."

"Now just hold on!" Lisbeth told him, causing Kirito to stop. "I'm going with you."

"That's not a good idea." Kirito told her. "That mountain's pretty dangerous, and as a blacksmith you aren't really able to fight."

"Yeah? Well I'm the one making the sword, so I have to be there to make sure you get the right metal." Lisbeth told him. "Either I go with you, or it's no deal."

Kirito gave a defeated sigh. "Fine. But if it gets dangerous, you better follow my lead."

"Fine." Lisbeth agreed.

* * *

Kaiba calmly walked through the corridors of the Knights of the Blood Oath headquarters. As he walked past the archway to one of the training yards, a man with short blonde hair wearing the white and red uniform of the guild few past and hit the wall on Kaiba's right. Surprised, Kaiba stopped to see what was going on. Looking out through the archway, Kaiba saw Asuna standing in the middle of the yard. Standing around her were other guild members who seemed almost terrified by the swordswoman.

Asuna's behavior had been troubling Kaiba for some time now. Her attitude had grown much colder and she had started wearing more black clothing and armor. He also noticed that her skin and become paler and her eyes had seemed to taken on a slight red tint. Kaiba didn't know exactly what had been going on with Asuna, but her behavior had been starting to cause problems.

"That was pathetic!" Asuna told the young man she had just thrown into the wall. "And you said you've mastered your hand-to-hand combat skill? How the hell you ever got into this guild, I'll never know!"

"What's going on?" Kaiba asked as he walked into the yard.

"I've been trying to train these new recruits like you ask, but they're a bunch of whips." Asuna told him.

"I appreciate you trying to bring out the best in our new fighters, but there are limits as to how far you can go." Kaiba told her. "I'm starting to reconsider giving you this assignment."

"Fine. I don't know why you even gave me a grunt job like this." Asuna told him. "This whole thing has been a waste of my time."

"I gave you this job because it looks like you need some time off from the front lines." Kaiba told her.

"Yeah? Well that's where you're wrong." Asuna argued. "I need to be out there in order to clear this game as fast as possible."

"Believe me Asuna, I can understand where you're coming from." Kaiba responded. "But it seems like lately you've been going overboard. I need my second in command to be at her best, which means I need you to rest every now and then."

"I get what this is about." Asuna replied. "You can't stand the thought of someone like me getting better than you. I've become ten times the player you are."

"You had better stop now, Asuna." Kaiba warned. "Otherwise you might say something you'll regret."

"Fine. If you don't need me for this anymore, I'm going to go out and do something useful." Asuna told him as she stormed off.

* * *

Kirito and Lisbeth materialized on the slope of a snow-covered mountain. The wind blew more snow down upon them and the sky above was thick with dark-grey clouds. All around them, large shards of crystal projected up from the ground. In front of them was a large pit that showed only darkness.

"Well, this is the place." Kirito told her. "You wait behind that rock while I take care of the dragon."

"Can't I help just a little?" Lisbeth asked.

"Trust me, it's better if I handle this alone." Kirito told her. "You better get a teleport crystal ready too, just in case."

"Oh fine." Lisbeth begrudgingly agreed.

With Lisbeth safely hidden, Kirito drew his sword and approached the pit. As soon as he reached the edge, a large dragon with red eyes and a body covered in silver scales flew up from below. The beast opened his mouth and breathed out a stream of icy mist. Kirito deflected the attack with his sword and charged in to attack. He leapt up and slashed the dragon in the side of the neck.

_'Wow! He's pretty good.'_ Lisbeth thought as she watched the battle.

The dragon fired another wave of ice breath at Kirito, only for him to deflect the attack again with his blade. Kirito then charged in again and cut off the dragon's left claw with one slash.

_'Looks like he's got this wrapped up.'_ Lisbeth mentally decided before stepping out from behind the boulder.

Just as Kirito was getting ready to deliver another blow, he heard Lisbeth's footsteps in the snow and looked around to see that she was getting far to close. The dragon noticed Lisbeth as well and fired an icy blast at her. Lisbeth noticed this too late stopped in her tracks. It seemed to her that she was finished. Suddenly Kirito leapt in and knocked Lisbeth out of the way. But they were so close to the edge of the pit that they ended up falling in.

As they fell, Kirito grabbed onto Lisbeth and positioned himself in the air so that he would hit the ground on his feet. They landed at the bottom of pit hard. Lisbeth was relatively unscathed, but Kirito had lost a significant amount of HP.

"Are you okay?" a concerned Lisbeth asked. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen."

"It's fine. Don't worry." Kirito assured her as he got back to his feet. "Right now we should worry about getting out of this hole."

"I'm on it." Lisbeth replied as she pulled out a blue crystal. "Teleport!" But to her surprise, nothing happened. "What? Teleport crystals don't work down here?"

"I figured." Kirito responded as he looked up. "I wonder if I…?"

Suddenly Kirito charged toward the wall and began running up the side. He managed to get up the side a few feet before gravity regained its hold on him and he fell back to the earth.

"What the heck were you trying to do?" Lisbeth asked.

"Well, I was thinking I might be able to run up the side of the wall. But it doesn't look like that's going to work." Kirito explained. "Looks like we're stuck here for the night until we can figure out how to get out of here."

"Great." Lisbeth sarcastically responded.

With no other option, Lisbeth and Kirito set up a small camp on the pit floor. The replenished the HP they lost and ate the meager rations Kirito had brought with for dinner. Night soon fell, and the two unrolled the sleeping bags they had with them and settled in for the night. As the pink-haired blacksmith looked across at Kirito, she started to notice how handsome he was. And Lisbeth had to admit that she didn't know any players who could take on a dragon. Lisbeth held out her hand to Kirito, and Kirito responded by taking it.

"It feels warm." Lisbeth remarked. "It's hard to believe that this world is just a bunch of ones and zeros."

"I know." Kirito agreed.

After a few more moments of looking at one another, Kirito closed his eyes. Lisbeth followed his lead and closed her eyes as well. Before either of them knew it, they had both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was early morning at the headquarters of the Knights of the Blood Oath. All of the major officers in the guild were meeting in Kaiba's office to discuss a new battle plan. The operation was to clear a small dungeon on the fifty-seventh floor and obtain a rare item. Everyone seemed fine with the plan, except for Asuna.

"So we're agreed then." Kaiba spoke as the briefing finished up. "We begin the raid in half an hour."

"Now just wait a minute!" Asuna protested. "Why are we wasting our time on some small-scale dungeon to get an item that probably doesn't exist? We should be focusing on clearing the next floor!"

"And in order to do that, we need every advantage we can get!" Kaiba argued as he stood from his chair.

"Sounds like you're making excuses." Asuna told him. "Some commander you are."

"I've had enough of this disrespectful attitude of yours Asuna!" Kaiba told her. "I'm only going to warn you once to change it!"

"Or what?" Asuna coldly asked. "You're going to try and change it for me? As high as my levels' gotten, I could probably wipe the floor with you."

"That's it! As of now, you're out of my guild!" Kaiba told her. "Leave now, or else I'll show how powerful I truly am!"

"Fine! I've gotten sick of working for you anyway." Asuna replied before turning on her heel and leaving.

* * *

Lisbeth awoke to find that she was in a place that was not the bedroom at her shop. It took a moment for her to remember that she was at the bottom of a pit in a snowy mountain. Lisbeth also noticed that Kirito was not in his sleeping bag.

"Good morning." Kirito's voice greeted, causing Lisbeth to sit up. She turned her head to see Kirito standing a few feet away. "Here, this is what we came for, right?"

Lisbeth quickly caught the item Kirito had thrown her and nearly dropped it. The item in question was a large pellet made of some kind of silver metal.

"This is the metal alright." Lisbeth confirmed as she examined it. "You found it here in the pit?"

"Yeah, I think it's the dragon's excrement." Kirito deduced. "This pit must be the dragon's nest."

"Then… doesn't that mean it's coming back?" Lisbeth realized.

"Yep." Kirito confirmed. "You better get ready."

As if on cue, the silver dragon from the day before flew down into the pit. Kirito quickly grabbed Lisbeth by the arm and pulled her along as he ran back up the pit wall. Once the dragon had gotten close enough, Kirito jumped from the wall with Lisbeth and landed on the dragon's back, piercing it with his sword. The dragon flew back up out of the pit, taking its two passengers with it. As soon as they were safely away from the dragon's nest, Kirito removed his sword and the two of them began falling towards the earth.

As they fell, Lisbeth couldn't help but admire Kirito. He was an amazing player, and not half bad-looking either. In fact, Lisbeth found that she felt more than admiration towards him.

"Hey! I think I'm falling in love with you!" Lisbeth called as they fell through the air.

"What?" Kirito responded.

"I said I think I'm in love with you!" Lisbeth repeated.

"I can't hear you!" Kirito told her. "What did you say?"

"Never mind!" Lisbeth replied. "It can wait for later!"

Miraculously, the two of them survived their fall. After taking some time to recover from the experience, they both headed back to Lisbeth's shop. Kirito stood and watched as Lisbeth worked at her forge. After heating the rare metal they had obtained, Lisbeth placed it on a table and stuck it a single time with a hammer. The metal glowed with a blue light and took the form of a silver-green sword.

"The name of this sword is Dark Repulsor." Lisbeth informed Kirito. "It's the best one I've made yet."

Kirito picked up the newly minted blade. "The weight feels right. But there's one way to know for sure how good it is."

With that, Kirito drew his own sword. Lisbeth held her breath as Kirito swung the black blade down upon the newly forged weapon. Miraculously, the blade didn't break.

"This sword… it's perfect!" Kirito declared, much to Lisbeth's joy. "So, how much do I owe you?"

"You don't have to pay me." Lisbeth told him, much to Kirito's surprise. "Instead, I want you to make me your personal blacksmith."

"Uh, what?" Kirito responed.

Before Lisbeth could say more, the door to the shop opened. Asuna walked in, surprising the two of them. Her appearance had drastically changed. Instead of her Knights of the Blood Oath uniform, she had on a black dress with a dark-grey chainmail shirt that had long sleeves, along with black chest and shoulder armor and black gauntlets that almost made her fingers look as if they had claws. Her skin was also very pale.

"Asuna!" Kirito and Lisbeth spoke together.

"Wait, you know her too?" a surprised Lisbeth asked Kirito.

Asuna looked at the two of them with an ice-cold expression. "Hi Kirito. I never expected to see you at Liz's shop."

"Asuna, it's been months since I've heard from you." Lisbeth told her. "What have you been up to, and… is that a new sword?"

"Oh yeah, I had it forged months ago." Asuna answered matter-of-factly. "An NPC blacksmith did it for me. This sword's actually a lot more useful than that old rapier you gave me."

"You… you went to an NPC blacksmith?" a stunned Lisbeth asked, looking a little hurt.

"Well you were busy, and I didn't have time to waste." Asuna flatly replied. "I need to clear this game as quickly as possible."

"Asuna, what's gotten into you?" Kirito asked. "And why aren't you wearing your guild's uniform?"

"Oh that. I was kicked out of the Knights of the Blood Oath this morning." Asuna explained. "I actually felt a little bad about it, which is why I came to talk to Liz about it. But really this was the best thing that could happen to me. That guild was holding me back. Now that I've lost all that dead weight, I can finally start to get things done."

"So… you're going to start fighting alone?" Kirito realized.

"You're not the only player who can go solo you know." Asuna pointed out. "Are you afraid that I'm going to steal your thunder?"

"Okay Asuna, something is way wrong here." A concerned Kirito told her as he reached out to her.

"Keep your hands off me!" Asuna snapped as she slapped his hand away. "I don't need you. I don't need anybody!"

"Asuna!" Kirito responded.

"I'm sick of it all." Asuna told him as she turned around. "I'm sick of this fake world. I'm sick of watching other players around me die. So from now on, I'm going to go it alone. And I'm going to do whatever I have to so I can clear this game."

"Asuna, wait!" Kirito called as she stormed out of the shop.

"What's gotten into her?" Lisbeth wondered.

"I don't know. But I'm really worried." Kirito admitted. "That wasn't the Asuna I knew."

"…You know her pretty well?" Lisbeth asked.

"Not as well as I'd like to." Kirito replied. "But… I really care about her a lot."

Lisbeth's heart sank upon hearing those words. "I see… guess I really am an idiot."

"Huh?" Kirito responded.

"I have to go." Lisbeth told him as she ran out of the shop in tears.

Lisbeth ran until she found a remote corner of the town where she could be alone. She sat down bringing her knees to her chest, and began to cry. It was just her luck to find the perfect guy in the game only to fine out that he had feelings for somebody else.

"There you are." A familiar voice spoke.

Lisbeth looked up and saw Kirito standing a few feet away. "Go away! Leave me alone!"

"Look, I'm sorry if I said anything that hurt you." Kirito told her. "Are… you going to be okay?"

It took Lisbeth a moment to compose herself. "Yeah, I'll be fine. But… I do have one request to make. I'd still want to be your personal blacksmith, but in exchange I want you to promise me something. Promise me that you'll put an end to this world."

"…Okay." Kirito agreed.

* * *

**Author's Note:** This chapter wasn't a huge departure from the original SAO episode. The real changes were the parts showing how much Asuna has slid towards the dark side. And that slid is going to advance a lot more in the next chapter, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


	13. Asuna vs Kirito

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 12: Asuna vs. Kirito

It was the dead of night, and Asuna was waiting in the bushes. Her next target was in sight. The target in question was a man in a brown hooded cloak. He was another member of Laughing Coffin. And for all Asuna knew, he was probably just coming back from another kill. Not that it really mattered though. To her, all members of Laughing Coffin were scum.

Within a few moments, the hooded man had walked very close to the bush. The time to strike had finally come. Asuna charged out and stabbed the hooded man several times with her enchanted blade. Before the man knew what had happened to him, his skin had gone pale and he had lost over half his HP. Paralyzed, the man fell to his back and looked up at Asuna with a look of utter surprise.

"Well, you were an easy target." Asuna coldly remarked as she stood over him. "Probably just another low-level member of the guild."

"Wh-what are you…?" the man attempted to ask.

Asuna remained silent as she waved her hand and caused a menu screen to appear. She scrolled through a list of items, paying close attention to each one.

"Looks like you've got at least a couple of good items on you." Asuna observed. "You probably took them from some of the players you killed. Serves you right for me to take them."

"Wait!" the man spoke as Asuna added the items she selected to her inventory.

"This route as a pretty low encounter rate." Asuna told the man as she walked off. "The paralysis should wear off before a monster runs across you. But it's really not my problem if it doesn't. The way I see it, you deserve whatever you get." And with that, she left the man to whatever fate awaited him.

* * *

Bakura laughed as he watched Asuna depart from her most recent attack on a holographic screen. He was delighted that she was starting to turn into the player he hoped that she would become.

"You don't mind that she attacked one of the members of that guild you created?" Kayaba asked from his mirror.

"Those fools are merely pawns to use for my agenda, just as Kirito and Asuna are." Bakura told him. "The only difference is that the members of Laughing Coffin are more expendable. The important thing is that the darkness controlling Asuna is taking a firmer hold. But then I did such a good job nurturing it."

"Like that attack on Asuna's party you lead in the desert." Kayaba noted.

"Exactly." Bakura confirmed. "Hatred is much stronger when it has a target. For now Asuna's channeling her darkness towards Laughing Coffin. But I have a feeling that it won't be much longer before she starts going after others."

* * *

It was a fairly calm morning on the day of April seventh, 2024. The sky was a bit cloudy, but not quite cloudy enough for rain. Kirito was busy having breakfast at a small tavern in the town of Tevish on the sixty-eighth floor. As he finished what remained of his pancakes, two other players walked past his table. One was a young man were short red hair wearing a green shirt and black chest and shoulder armor. The other player was a freckled young man with long blonde hair wearing a long grey coat with a blue shirt and grey chest armor.

"So did you hear? The Dark Flash struck again last night." The redhead informed his friend as they sat down.

"You mean Lightning Flash Asuna?" the blonde asked, getting Kirito's attention.

"Yeah. Someone found a dude from Laughing Coffin on the ground while traveling out of town." The redhead confirmed. "He lost over half his HP and he was paralyzed. They threw him in jail of course, but he said that some of his stuff was stolen."

"Wow! That's like the third guy this month." The blonde recalled. "Of course I can't feel too bad for these guys, since they're in Laughing Coffin. The Dark Flash is doing the rest of us players a favor by picking off those guys."

"Excuse me." Kirito politely interrupted as he walked up to them. "Are you guys talking about Asuna, the former second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood Oath?"

"Yeah man. Didn't you hear? After she ditched that guild, Asuna went all mercenary and started going after the guys from Laughing Coffin." The redhead revealed. "She hasn't killed any of 'em though. All she's done so far is just left them paralyzed and taken some of their stuff."

"You know, I just hope she doesn't flip out and decide to go after us normal players too." The blonde remarked.

Kirito left the two young men to themselves. As soon as he paid for his meal, he left the tavern to go in search of Asuna. Kirito had been greatly troubled by Asuna's behavior for some time. Ever since their little encounter at Lisbeth's shop, Kirito knew that there was something wrong with her. This was the first he had heard about her going after other players though. He had been spending most of his time clearing dungeons lately, so he was unaware of much of the current gossip.

Using his friend list, Kirito was able to determine that Asuna was on a route down on the sixty-third floor. Though he wasn't able to get an exact location. Kirito immediately teleported down and went to go find her. As soon as Kirito reached the general area where Asuna was, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around only to find out that it was Yugi and his friends.

"What're you guys doing here?" Kirito asked them.

"It's none of your business, but we're looking for Asuna." Joey explained. "She's been causing some trouble lately."

"I heard about that too." Kirito told them. "So what're you planning to do if you find her?"

"Right now we just want to talk to her and find out what's going on." Anzu assured him.

"I want to talk to her too." Kirito admitted. "I want to figure out why she's acting this way."

"Kirito, I might have an idea about that." Yugi revealed. "Do you remember that ring Asuna obtained when we were in the Forest of the Dead?"

"You mean that time we rescued Silica?" Kirito recalled. "You think that item she got on the way has something to do with it?"

"Yugi, how could some item in a game cause Asuna to go nuts like this?" Honda asked.

"I don't know." The pharaoh replied. "But we should try and find her before she goes too far."

"I think I can find where Asuna is." Kirito told them. "And if she really is out of control, then I could probably use some help."

"Lead the way then." Yugi replied.

Kirito led the others across the fields and meadows along the route. With his tracking abilities, it was proving fairly easy to find Asuna. At last they found her on the outskirts of a forest. She had cornered a man in a black hooded cloak against a tree. Kirito was unsettled by the fact that the player cursor hovering above Asuna's head was orange instead of green, though he wasn't surprised. She had after all taken action against several players.

"Now then, are you going to make this easy on yourself or not?" Asuna asked her cornered prey. "You're lucky I'm in a pretty good mood today. So you can either hand over the best items in your inventory, or I can just take them from you the hard way.'

"Asuna, stop!" Kirito called.

Asuna turned around to look at Kirito. He was shocked to see that her eyes were bright red. Knowing an opportunity when he saw it, Asuna's cornered target made a run for it.

"What the hell do all of you want?" Asuna coldly asked.

"We came to stop you from going after all these players." Yugi told her. "It's gone far enough."

"All the players I've gone after have been from Laughing Coffin." Asuna told them. "I've been doing everyone a favor taking them out. And the items I've gotten off of them will help me clear this game a lot faster."

"You mean all this has been to clear the game?" Joey asked.

"That's the only thing that matters, isn't it?" Asuna responded. "This game is slowly draining our lives away. That's why I have to clear it as soon as possible. If a few player killers have to suffer for me to do that, than who cares?"

"I told you once before Asuna, even in this game there are lines that should never be crossed!" Yugi reminded her. "Right now you've only been wounding the player killers you've gone after. But how long will it be before you start killing them yourself? And what will happen before you start going after the normal players as well? This ends now!"

"Who the hell do you think you are telling me what to do?" Asuna protested.

"Asuna, Yugi's right." Kirito told her as he approached. "I don't like the player killers any more than you do. In fact I'd probably still want to kill that bastard Bakura if I ever saw him again. But right now you're no better then any of the player killers."

"How dare you?" Asuna told him in a hate-filled voice. "You think you have the right to lecture me just because you're some hotshot solo player?"

"Asuna, I'm worried about you." Kirito told her. "That's why this all has to stop."

"Oh yeah? Then just try and stop me!" Asuna dared as she suddenly charged at Kirito.

Kirito just barely managed to draw his own sword to deflect Asuna's attack. Her speed made it extremely difficult to fight back, and the last thing Kirito wanted was to be struck by that enchanted blade of hers. Kirito was forced backward as their blades continued to clash. He was barely managing to block each strike. At last, Asuna managed to land several strikes to Kirito's chest. His HP dropped into the red zone and his skin went pale. He could feel his body going limp and he fell to his knees.

"I've really gotten sick of you." Asuna told him as she raised her sword high. "This is your own fault for trying to get in my way."

"Spell of Immobilization!" Anzu called out after coming around and getting behind Asuna.

A bolt of white electricity shot from the end of Anzu's staff and hit Asuna in the back. But the energy seemed to get sucked into Asuna's black armor.

The dark swordswoman turned around and looked coldly at Anzu. "My shadowmail armor negates magical attacks. Especially attacks from white magic."

"Oh boy." Anzu responded with a somewhat frightened expression.

"You're going to regret trying to stop me." Asuna told her as she prepared to attack.

"That's enough, Asuna!" Yugi told her as he quickly got in front of Anzu. "I don't want to fight you, but I will if you leave me no choice!"

"Fine… than you're going down next!" Asuna declared as she charged at Yugi.

Asuna moved faster than Yugi or any of the others could respond. But just as she was about to move in for the kill, Kirito suddenly jumped in the way and was pierced through the chest. The others watched in horror as his HP went to zero.

"Kirito, no!" Yugi called.

Suddenly instead of shattering into polygons, Kirito's body became bathed in golden flames. A burst of those flames repelled Asuna back several feet and knocked her onto her back. At the same time, Kirito's HP rose back to a hundred percent in a flash.

"What's going on?" Anzu wondered.

Just then, Kirito began mumbling something under his breath. A small glowing ball of golden metal floated out from under his black coat and began rise into the air. The sphere quickly expanded into a massive orb that hovered above Kirito. Suddenly it began to unfold into something else. In moments the pieces of it clicked into place and the sphere had taken the form of a golden dragon with the head of a bird. It had red eyes and what looked like a large blue gem embedded in the top of its head. On it back between its wings was a single gold ring.

The dragon's body shined with the golden rays of the sun. After a moment the gold flames surrounding Kirito's body subsided. His eyes snapped back open to reveal that they had turned gold.

"What… what is that thing?" a stunned Asuna demanded to know as she got back to her feet.

"This is one of the most powerful monsters in this game." Kirito answered. "The Winged Dragon of Ra! And I'm going to use his power to snap you back to normal!"

"I don't know what you're trying to pull, but it's not going to work!" Asuna declared as she prepared to attack again.

Through his eyes, Kirito could see Asuna's ring giving off a strange black aura. He began mumbling to himself again as if he were chanting something in another language. Suddenly his HP gauge dropped by ten percent and Ra's body became covered in golden flames, causing the dragon to take the form of a phoenix. Ra flew into the air and came straight down to hit Asuna. Her body was consumed by a massive pillar of golden flames and pieces of black metal shot off of her.

After a moment the flames subsided and Ra had completely vanished. Kirito's eyes had returned to their normal color. Asuna's skin and eyes had changed back to their normal color as well and the player cursor above her head had turned green. Her outfit had changed into a simple white dress. An expression of horror and shock was on Asuna's face. She let the enchanted black sword she was still holding drop to the ground.

"What… what have I done?" Asuna spoke as tears began to stream down her cheeks.

She cried out and fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands as she began to sob. Slowly Kirito walked over and tried to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Stay away!" Asuna told him as she slapped his hand away. "You… you shouldn't be around me. I… I remember it all. I remember all the horrible things I did. I-I remember that I tried to kill you."

"That wasn't you." Kirito told her as he knelt down. "It was that ring you had on. The one you got when we rescued Silica. We don't know how, but somehow it made you act crazy."

"That doesn't change what I did. What I tried to do to you." Asuna argued. "How… how can you not hate me?"

"Because I know that wasn't the real you." Kirito told Asuna as he pulled her into a hug. "So don't worry about it."

"What I don't understand is how some item in a game could make Asuna go nuts like that." Honda spoke.

"There's something about this game we've been missing." Yugi theorized. "I think there may be more going on here than we thought."

"Well, I certainly didn't expect this development." A horribly familiar voice spoke. Kirito and the others looked to see Bakura standing a few feet away.

"You bastard!" Kirito cursed as he rose to his feet. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was just passing by when I saw your little battle with Asuna." Bakura innocently claimed. "I never expected you to have a dragon at your command. Or that you would destroy the little ring I gave Asuna."

"You mean… you're the one who did this to Asuna?" Kirito realized. "I'm going to make you pay!"

"Hold on!" Joey interrupted. "I know how you feel Kirito, but we can't let you hurt Bakura! Right Yugi?"

"Kirito… don't show Bakura any mercy!" Yugi told him.

"What?" Bakura exclaimed.

"Yugi, what're you thinking?" a stunned Honda asked.

"Bakura expects us to protect him from Kirito. He's been manipulating all of us from the start." Yugi answered. "And just now he gave away his whole hand."

"So you're not going to protect me?" a noticeably irritated Bakura asked.

"I'm not going to fall for anymore of your tricks!" Yugi declared. "That's why I'm going to let him have you."

"Looks like your friends aren't going to bale you out this time." Kirito told Bakura. "So I'm going to put an end to this once and for all!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** This chapter was originally going to be two separate chapters. I was going to end it at the point when Kirito summoned Ra. But it ended up being so short, I decided to add a little more. By the way, some of you reading may have noticed that Kirito's HP dropped slightly when he used Ra's phoenix mode on Asuna. That's a small clue as to how Ra's effects work in this story.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	14. The Dark Master

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 13: The Dark Master

"Yugi, are you seriously going to let Kirito try and kill me?" Bakura asked. "You know what would happen if he succeeded."

"Somehow I doubt that the stakes are really as high as we think." Yugi responded.

"Yugi, what're you talking about?" a stunned Anzu asked. "We all know what'll happen if any of us dies in this game!"

"She's right, Yugi. We can't take this risk." Joey agreed.

"Joey. Anzu. Honda. Just trust me on this." Yugi requested. "If I'm right, and I'm certain I am, we're about to see the truth behind this whole game revealed in this battle."

"Fine then! I can take care of Kirito on my own." Bakura decided as he drew his sword. "He'll be easy to destroy."

"Don't be so sure." Kirito told him as he finished clicking a few things on his menu screen.

With that, Kirito drew his black sword as he charged at Bakura. The king of thieves quickly raised his own blade to deflect the attack. But as soon as Kirito moved in to strike, the sword he had gotten from Lisbeth materialized on his back. In matter of seconds, Bakura blocked the strike from the sword in Kirito's right hand, only for him to draw his other sword with his left and slash Bakura across the stomach. The attack took out a large amount of Bakura's HP.

"What the… two swords?" a surprised Joey observed. "I've never seen a player in this game able to do that!"

"It seems that Kirito has acquired a rare skill." Yugi observed.

"Yeah, and now he's using it to cut Bakura to shreds!" Honda added. "Yugi, how can you let this fight go on?"

"Honda, do you notice what color Kirito's player cursor is?" Yugi calmly asked.

Honda looked at the diamond-shaped cursor hovering above Kirito's head. "It's green. So what?"

"Kirito has just harmed another player. Which means his cursor should've turned orange." Yugi pointed out. "Yet it's still green."

"But Bakura's the one who started this fight!" Joey reminded him.

"It doesn't work that way." Asuna spoke as she rose to her feet. "Kirito's the one who drew first blood. No matter what kind of player you attack, even if it's a red player, if you're the one who strikes first your cursor goes orange. Trust me, I know."

"Asuna's right. Bakura may have taunted Kirito into attacking him, but Kirito was the one to strike first." Yugi confirmed. "And yet his cursor is still green."

"So? Maybe it's a glitch or something." Honda theorized.

"I don't think it's anything that simple." Yugi disagreed.

Kirito continued slashing wildly against Bakura and forcing him back. Bakura struggled to block Kirito's attacks, but he could only block one blade at a time. The thief king's HP had quickly dropped into the red.

"Enough of this!" Bakura decided. "Diabound! Destroy him!"

Suddenly Kirito mumbled something and a ball of gold light flew out of his coat. The ball expanded and quickly unfolded into The Winged Dragon of Ra. The rays produced by the golden dragon's body shined down and caused Diabound to appear. The demon was standing behind Bakura, but his tail had moved to strike Kirito in the back. Diabound roared in pain from the light being generated by Ra.

"So much for your monster's Shadow Camouflage!" Kirito spoke as he slashed Bakura again in the stomach.

"Diabound! Kill that wretched dragon!" Bakura ordered. "Spiral Wave!"

"Nice try! Ra, counterattack with God Blaze Cannon!" Kirito commanded.

Diabound raised its claws and blasted a twister of razor sharp wind op at Ra. But the dragon breathed out a massive blast of golden flames that pushed through the twister and hit Diabound in the chest. The demon roared in pain and smoke rose from the spot he was struck. Its first HP gauge had dropped to zero.

"Take him out!" Kirito commanded.

Ra fired another massive blast of golden flames and struck Diabound in the chest again. The demon's final HP gauge dropped to zero in an instant and it shattered apart into polygons. Bakura winced as he suddenly lost a small amount of HP.

"I thought so. You got that monster of yours by making a demonic pact with it." Kirito deduced as Ra suddenly vanished. "Since it was destroyed, you just lost a little more of your HP."

"So aren't you going to finish me with that dragon of yours?" Bakura asked.

"Yeah, I'm afraid that's all I can manage with Ra for now." Kirito revealed.

Bakura noticed that Kirito's HP gauge had dropped into the red and began to laugh. "I see. So you need to sacrifice your own hit points in order for that creature to attack. I'm not sure whether I'd call that bold or foolish."

"Yeah? Well I don't need Ra to finish you off!" Kirito declared as he charged at Bakura again.

"Don't be so sure." Bakura confidently told him as he reached behind his back.

Just as Kirito moved in, Bakura swung his arm around to strike Kirito in the side with a dagger. But when the blade struck, Bakura was surprised to find that it hit something hard.

Kirito smirked. "You'd think I'd fall for that trick again? I had some special armor forged in case you anyone else tried something like that."

With that, Kirito brought the sword in his right hand down. But Bakura just managed to evade by twisting to the side. He then stabbed Kirito through the stomach with the sword still in his right hand. After he removed it, Kirito fell to the ground on his back. His HP had fallen to a mere sliver.

"It's time I put you out of your misery." Bakura decided as he stood over Kirito and raised his blade.

Suddenly a silvery-green blade pierced through the front of Bakura's torso. Bakura looked back and saw that Asuna had stabbed him from behind with the sword she had gotten from Lisbeth. His HP had dropped lower than Kirito's.

"You… damn witch!" Bakura cursed.

Kirito cried out and quickly rose to his feet. Using his swords like a pair of scissors he cut off Bakura's head. The thief king's body shattered apart into polygons in an instant. Joey, Honda, and Anzu looked on in horror while Yugi's expression remained calm.

Joey looked at Kirito and his expression turned to rage. "Why you… do you know what you've just done?"

"Joey, calm down! I'm certain Bakura's not dead!" Yugi quickly told him.

Joey looked at Yugi as if he had just said something in a foreign language. "He's not… what?"

"But… how can that be?" Anzu asked.

"When Bakura showed up earlier, he said that he had given Asuna the ring that drove her to darkness." Yugi reminded them. "But Asuna had gotten that ring as a monster drop item! We were all there when she got it."

"So? Bakura lured us into that forest. Maybe he knew that Asuna would kill one of the monsters there and get that ring." Honda argued.

"But monster drop items are random." Kirito pointed out. "And an item like that ring would be pretty rare. There's no way he could be sure that Asuna would get it."

"That's right." Yugi agreed. "Unless he was in control of this game."

"But… but we all saw Akihiko Kayaba announce that he was the one behind all this." A stunned and confused Anzu reminded him.

"I know what we saw, but I still think Bakura is the one behind all this." Yugi maintained. "It's more than just the ring that Asuna ended up with. I've suspected that something else has been going on from the moment my Millennium Puzzle appeared in this game."

"What does some pendant in a game have to do with all this?" Asuna asked.

At this, Yugi suddenly became bathed in a golden light generated by the pyramid-shaped pendant. The light faded and both Asuna and Kirito were surprised to see that Yugi's appearance had somehow changed. He had grown shorter and his face looked slightly different.

"I think I should be the one to explain this." Yugi spoke in a different voice.

"What's going on here?" Kirito asked.

"Well for one thing, I'm not the Yugi that you and Asuna have met before." The shorter Yugi explained. "That was my other self. And he's a spirit that lives within the pendant that's hanging around my neck. It's an Egyptian relic called the Millennium Puzzle, and it exists in the real world."

"So… that puzzle or whatever it is caused you to have some kind of split personality?" Asuna asked.

"It's a little more complicated than that." Yugi replied. "But I'm not the only one with a pendant like this. Bakura has another item called the Millennium Ring, and like my puzzle there's another personality living inside it. But the personality inside the Millennium Ring is evil, and that's the personality that you and Asuna have both been dealing with."

"So then… you and the others were friends with Bakura's good personality." Kirito realized.

"That's right! And now that Bakura's dead because of you!" Joey told him.

"Hold on, Joey!" Yugi cut in. "The other me and I don't think that Bakura's really dead. Not if he's the one behind this."

"What do you mean?" Anzu asked.

"Think about it, guys. Without me, the other me is just a spirit inside a puzzle." Yugi pointed out. "He needs me as a vessel to act in our world. It's the same with the spirit of the Millennium Ring. If he really is the one controlling this game, then he's doing it to get his hands on my Millennium Puzzle. Which means he'd need the real Bakura to do it. That's why I'm sure Bakura's not dead."

Suddenly the sky rumbled and became dark. The wind picked up and the air became filled with an evil laugh that was all too familiar to Yugi and the others. Everyone looked up to see a giant transparent image of Bakura's head appear in the sky.

"Well done, Yugi." Bakura praised. "It seems I underestimated you."

In a flash of gold light, Yugi's heroic persona reemerged and glared up at the game master. "Bakura! This time you've gone too far!"

"So… you're really not dead?" a stunned Kirito realized.

"That wasn't the real me you just killed." Bakura revealed. "The Bakura who founded and led Laughing Coffin was merely an elaborate NPC I created as an extension of my being. My real avatar has been up on the one hundredth floor of Aincrad this whole time."

"So Bakura really is behind this?" Honda asked.

"But that jerk Kayaba bragged about starting this whole thing when the game started!" Joey pointed out.

"You simpleton. That was merely a recording program that Kayaba had set up in advance." Bakura explained. "Though in truth he was the one originally behind this scheme. He was planning to masquerade as a player and pretend he was just another victim so he could experience what he created first hand. But in the end, all he did was make himself into the perfect scapegoat for me."

"How is it that you've accomplished all this?" Yugi asked.

"My host just happened to be one of the handful of beta testers that worked personally with Kayaba during the development of the game." Bakura explained. "But I sensed what Kayaba was truly up to. I defeated him in a shadow game and used the power of my ring to take control of this game."

"There's one thing I'd like to know, you bastard!" Kirito cut in. "If Yugi's the one you've been after, then why have you been messing with me and Asuna?"

"Oh that. I was merely trying to use you and Asuna to kill Yugi for me." Bakura answered. "I filled Asuna with darkness and tried to turn her into a player killer, one that Yugi would try and stop, only to die in the attempt. And as for you, Kirito, I wanted you to hate me so much that you would cut through anyone and anything to get back at me. Even Yugi."

Kirito fell to his knees in shock. "So then… everything that you've done… was just to try and make us do your damn killing?"

"It's nothing personal Kirito. I only chose you and Asuna because you were the ones who defeated the floor one boss." Bakura revealed.

"Bakura! You had no right to use Kirito and Asuna like that!" Yugi told him. "This is between you and me! End this game right now!"

"I don't think so." Bakura replied. "This game had gone too far to stop. Besides, I'm having way too much fun. If you want to end this game though, then clear your way to the final floor. I'll be waiting." With that, Bakura laughed as his giant image faded from the sky.

Kirito got to his feet and went over to Asuna. "Asuna, I think I should get you home now."

"Uh, yeah. Okay." Asuna agreed.

"Hey, Kirito." Joey spoke up, causing Kirito and Asuna to stop. "Look, sorry about…"

"Save it." Kirito told him before he could finish. "We were all played. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get Asuna out of here."

"Are you guys going to be okay?" Anzu asked.

"We'll be fine." Kirito assured her. "See you around."

* * *

Bakura sat atop his throne with a scowl on his face. Everything he had planned had fallen apart before his eyes. He had spent over a year trying to manipulate Kirito and Asuna only for all his efforts to be wasted.

"It seems your control over this world is not as absolute as you thought." Kayaba observed from his mirror."

"Shut up!" Bakura responded. "It seems that I did let my control over this game go to my head a bit."

"Not only did you underestimate Yugi, you failed to anticipate that Kirito would also try to stop Asuna's rampage." Kayaba pointed out.

"Well, I suppose this is only a minor setback." Bakura decided as he got up from the throne. "I'll find another way to kill Yugi."

"And what of Kirito and Asuna?" Kayaba asked.

"They failed to play the roles that their game master set out for them. That annoys me." Bakura admitted. "So I'm going find the perfect way to make them suffer."

* * *

Kirito arrived with Asuna to her apartment within the game. Inwardly, Kirito was impressed by the place. It was well decorated and was not a home that players could get cheap. Kirito closed the door behind them and guided Asuna over to the couch.

"Um, thanks for taking me home." Asuna told him.

"Is it okay if I stay here tonight?" Kirito asked.

"Uh, what?" a surprised Asuna responded.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that." Kirito assured her. "It's just well… I'm kind of worried about you. So I'd like to keep an eye on you, at least for tonight."

"Oh… okay then." Asuna finally agreed. "I'd like that, actually. But… I still don't know you can how to stand to be around me after what I did."

"I told you Asuna, that wasn't the real you." Kirito told her. "Bakura was just using you… just like he used me. Look, maybe you'd feel better if you got some sleep."

"That does sound like a good idea." Asuna admitted. "The truth is I haven't been sleeping very well lately."

A few minutes later, Asuna had gotten into bed and had drifted off to sleep. Kirito sat on a chair in the room with her to keep vigil. As he watched her sleeping form, Kirito couldn't help but notice how peaceful she looked. Not to mention how beautiful. It was criminal how much suffering she had gone through because of Bakura.

At the same time, Kirito's head was still spinning from what he had learned about the world he and Asuna were trapped in. Ancient Egyptian relics, split personalities, it was all so unbelievable. But the most shocking part was that Bakura had been behind everything from the start. Kirito found that he hated Bakura even more. Everything the evil game master had done, even killing Sachi, it was all so that he would do Bakura's work for him. And what disgusted Kirito was that Bakura had partially succeeded.

Kirito had let his emotions get the better of him. He let himself give in to his hatred and killed Bakura's NPC double in cold blood. Things would've been different if Bakura had simply been a normal player. Kirito remembered Yugi's words about how there were lines in the game that should never be crossed, and he had almost crossed over one of the biggest lines of them all. After awhile, Kirito managed to push all of it out of his mind and finally dozed off.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Kirito having to sacrifice some of his HP for The Winged Dragon of Ra to attack was inspired by the game legal version of its effect in the actual card game. I still feel like they watered its effects down a little too much. Anyway, we'll soon be learning a little more about how Ra's powers work in this story fairly soon.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	15. Dungeon for Two

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 14: Dungeon for Two

It was a sunny afternoon on the day of October seventeenth, 2024. Kirito was returning back from trying to clear the main dungeon on the seventy-fourth floor. The task had proven much harder than he thought. Kirito had been able to defeat the monsters he had encountered in the labyrinth, but there were quite a lot of them. And they were fairly difficult to defeat. The labyrinth itself had also proven to be quite complex, and the boss room had still not been found. Clearing that dungeon was going to take quite some time.

As Kirito traveled through the forest, he heard something rustling in the bushes. He waited and saw a strange-looking brown rabbit with blue eyes. Kirito recognized the creature as a Ragout Rabbit, a very rare animal within the game of MWO, and one that was said to be very tasty. Very calmly but quickly, Kirito pulled out a small pin-like weapon and waited for the right moment. Then just as the rabbit began to hop away, Kirito threw the weapon at it. The rabbit was struck and killed, causing Kirito to obtain its meat as an item.

Kirito thought for a moment about what to do with the meat. He new that the meat of the Ragout Rabbit was a delicacy, but his cooking skill within the game was not that great, certainly not good enough to handle such rare meat. Kirito's first thought was to go down to Agil's shop down on the fiftieth floor and sell it. But then he remembered that he did know someone who might just be skilled enough to handle his latest catch.

With that in mind, Kirito went off to go find Asuna. The two of them had grown a bit closer ever since the incident with the cursed ring. Just after the incident, Kirito had kept a close eye on Asuna out of concern. She had slept for two whole days right after it had happened. Over time Asuna had become more like her old self, though she had also become a little reclusive. The only people she would interact with besides Kirito were Lisbeth, Silica, and Yugi and his companions. The cursed ring had left its scars, but Asuna had slowly been opening up more and more.

After a little bit of searching, Kirito found Asuna in a forest down on the sixty-eighth floor. She had on an all white version of her Knights of the Blood Oath uniform. Kirito quickly deduced that Asuna had been training in the forest to keep her level up. It was another good sign that Asuna was getting back to normal.

"Hey." Kirito called, getting Asuna's attention.

"Oh, hi Kirito." Asuna greeted as she came over. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you something." Kirito explained. "How good's your cooking skill?"

"I've mastered it, why?" Asuna asked.

"I just caught this in the forest." Kirito explained as he called up his menu screen. "I was wondering if maybe you could cook it up for me."

Asuna's eyes widened upon looking at the item Kirito was referring to. "A Ragout Rabbit?"

"Yeah, so will you cook it?" Kirito asked.

Asuna grabbed Kirito by the coat. "Half!"

"Oh… okay, sure." Kirito agreed. "So, should I come over to your place tonight for dinner then?"

"That'd be great." Asuna confirmed. "Right now I'm going to go meet with Liz for some afternoon tea. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay, later." Kirito replied. And with that they parted ways.

Evening came after a few more hours. It was a little before 7:00 by the time Kirito had arrived at Asuna's place in Selmburg on the sixty-first floor. Kirito knocked on the door, and it opened up to reveal Asuna wearing casual attire.

"Hi, am I too early?" Kirito asked.

"Nope, you're right on time." Asuna replied. "Come on in. Make yourself at home."

Kirito entered the apartment and took off his usual battle gear, changing into a long-sleeved black shirt and black jeans. He then followed Asuna to the kitchen and produced the rabbit meat to place on the counter.

"So, how would you like this prepared?" Asuna asked.

"I guess I didn't really think about it." Kirito admitted.

"How 'bout I do it as a stew?" Asuna suggested. "Rabbit meat is supposed to go really well in a stew."

"That sounds good." Kirito agreed.

With that, Asuna produced a knife. Upon touching the blade to the hunk of meat, it broke down into cut pieces. Kirito watched as Asuna prepared the meal. Though the process looked quite easy, Kirito had to admit that Asuna really was an excellent chef. Within a few minutes, dinner was ready and the two sat down to eat. Conversation was light during the meal. Both Kirito and Asuna were too busy enjoying the stew to talk.

"That was really good." Kirito declared after finishing his last bite.

"Yeah." Asuan agreed before taking a sip of tea. "So, have you noticed how many players have stopped trying to clear the game lately? It's like they've all gotten used to their lives here."

"I know. I've kind of gotten used to this place too." Kirito admitted.

"Me too. It's almost like I've lived my whole life here." Asuna replied. "But I still want to get out of this game and back to my life in the real world. I'm sure we both have people we left behind who're waiting for us to come back."

"Yeah." Kirito agreed. "And besides, giving up now would mean we'd be letting that bastard win."

At this, Asuna's expression darkened a bit. "No matter how many times I think about it, I still can't believe that this whole thing is because of some kind of fight between Yugi and Bakura. And all of us have just been caught in the middle of it this whole time."

"Have you been doing okay Asuna?" Kirito asked. "I mean you seem okay, but…"

"…It's been hard dealing with the guilt of the things I've done while under the influence of that ring." Asuna admitted. "I let wanting to clear the game take me over. I still look back at those times and its like looking through the eyes of a stranger. But I've been able to deal with it because of you and Liz, and everyone else."

"Have you thought about trying to rejoin the Knights of the Blood Oath?" Kirito asked.

"I still don't think I could face some of the people in the guild after some of the stuff I've done." Asuna answered. "Besides, Commander Kaiba's a little… difficult to work with sometimes."

"Yeah, he does seem like kind of a jerk." Kirito agreed.

"So what about you Kirito?" Asuna asked. "Haven't you considered joining a guild? I'm sure Yugi and his friends would take you."

"Other players would just kind of get in the way." Kirito replied. "It's easier to work alone."

"But the monsters on these higher levels just keep getting tougher." Asuna pointed out. "And their attack algorithms just keep getting more complex. You can't keep fighting them on your own."

"I'll be fine." Kirito assured her.

At this, Asuna rose from her chair. "How about you and I form a party together? We can work on clearing the next dungeon together."

"Uh, you and me in a party?" Kirito asked.

"Well, we're both currently solo players." Asuna pointed out. "Besides, it's been awhile since I've seen you fight."

"Well… I suppose that we could." Kirito somewhat reluctantly agreed.

With that, Asuna brought up her menu screen. A holographic screen with a party invitation appeared before Kirito. He hesitated for a moment to press the accept button before Asuna suddenly brought the blade of a butter knife close to his face. Asuna gave Kirito a rather threatening look. Kirito was a bit relieved by this behavior, as it meant Asuna truly was getting back to her old self. Yet at the same time it also sent a chill down his spine. At last, Kirito finally pressed the accept button.

"Let's meet up tomorrow at 9:00, okay?" Asuna suggested.

"Yeah, that's fine." Kirito agreed. "Later."

The morning came and Kirito waited in the square of a town on the seventy-fourth floor called Kamdet. In the square was a large circular gate that was used for teleporting players. A blue light appeared in the center of the gateway and Asuna came flying out, only to land right on top of Kirito. As Kirito struggled to push Asuna off, his right hand somehow managed to find Asuna's breast.

"What is this?" Kirito wondered as he squeezed a bit on the mound. "It feels soft."

Asuna cried out and managed to fling Kirito several feet into a nearby wall. Kirito recovered and saw a flustered and somewhat angry-looking Asuna looking back at him. He suddenly realized what part of her anatomy he had unwittingly groped. As soon as Kirito got back to his feet, the gate suddenly lit up again. Asuna quickly got up and ran behind Kirito as another figure emerged. The person in question turned out to be Kuradeel.

"There you are Commander Asuna." Kuradeel spoke as he approached. "I've been trying to find you. Commander Kaiba wishes to speak with you."

"Who the hell are you?" Kirito asked.

"I am Kuradeel of the Knights of the Blood Oath." The shady knight replied. "You're that beater they call the Black Swordsman, correct? Now if you'll excuse me, I've been ordered to escort the commander back to headquarters."

"Too bad, because I don't think Asuna wants to go with you." Kirito told him. "Now get lost."

"Now see here! I don't know how it is you know Commander Asuna, but I'm not leaving until she comes with me." Kuradeel insisted.

"Then how about this? I challenge you to a duel." Kirito declared. "If I win, you leave. Sound good?"

"Very well." Kuradeel agreed as he brought up his menu screen to issue Kirito a challenge. "I'm going to take great pleasure in defeating someone like you."

With that, both Kirito and Kuradeel drew their weapons. The one who landed the first blow would be declared the winner. After a holographic screen showing a timer hit zero, the two combatants charged at one another. As Kuradeel swung his sword, Kirito cut through it like it was butter. The severed blade hit the ground and shattered into polygons. Kirito was declared the winner.

"There, now get going." Kirito ordered. "Or do you want me to kick your butt two times in a row?"

"…Fine!" Kuradeel finally agreed as he turned on his heel and headed back to the gate. "But this is far from over."

With that, Kuradeel went into the gate and vanished with a flash of blue light. Asuna breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he was gone.

"So you know that guy?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah. He came to get me and drag me back to see Commander Kaiba." Asuna explained. "I think he wants to try and talk me into rejoining the guild."

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Kirito asked.

"I told you last night that I'm not ready to go back there." Asuna reminded him. "Besides, I already have plans with you. So, shall we get going?"

"Yeah, okay." Kirito agreed.

With that, the two of them headed off into the mountains towards the dungeon. They only had to walk for a few minutes before they finally reached it. Inside, Kirito and Asuna began to encounter several fairly strong monsters. The two of them didn't have much trouble fighting them off though. During the battles, Kirito had been paying close attention to the way Asuna fought. He couldn't help but be impressed by her sheer speed. It seemed like she was able to take out monsters twice as fast as he was able to.

After several small skirmishes with the creatures within the labyrinth, Kirito and Asuna came upon a pair of large doors. They were both carved to look like the face of some sort of demonic creature. Kirito and Asuna both had the feeling that something very bad was waiting on the other side of those doors.

"You think this is the boss room?" Asuna asked.

"There's one way to find out." Kirito replied. "Get a teleport crystal ready. At the first sign of trouble we leave."

Asuna nodded and pulled out a blue crystal. After waiting a moment the pushed open the large doors. As soon as they opened, the room on the other side lit up with several blue torches placed around the chambers edge. Sitting in the center was a very large minotaur-like creature with blue skin and large curved horns. It had red eyes and in its right hand it carried a large bladed weapon with a long narrow handle. Four HP gauges appeared near the creature along with its name, The Gleam Eyes. The demon roared at the couple, causing them to run out of the room and slam the doors shut.

"There's no way we can take on that thing alone." Kirito decided.

"Yeah, we'll have to come back with a lot more players if we hope to take that thing down." Asuna agreed. "So what now?"

"Why don't we take a little break?" Kirito suggested. "We've been at it for awhile now."

With that, the two of them headed down a nearby corridor and sat down to rest. Asuna produced a pair of sandwiches and handed one of them to Kirito.

Upon taking a bite of the sandwich, Kirito's taste buds were blown away. "This sandwich is just amazing."

"You know I make sauces for this sandwich myself." Asuna revealed. "I spent a lot of time studying the different ingredients that can be found in Aincrad and figured out which ones worked well together. You know, I could probably make a lot of money selling it."

"I don't think I'd like that." Kirito told her.

"How come?" Kirito asked.

"Because I want to be the only one to have sandwiches as good as this." Kirito explained.

"…Hey, can I ask you something?" Asuna spoke after a moment. "You know that gold dragon you used to fight Bakura? Why don't you try using that thing against the demon we just saw?"

"You mean The Winged Dragon of Ra? I'd rather not use it if I didn't have to." Kirito admitted. "It's kind of a last resort weapon. You saw how I used it against Bakura's demon, right? I had to give up some of my HP for it to attack. That's kind of a risky move to use in a boss fight."

"I guess you're right." Asuna agreed. "Where did you get a dragon like that anyway? I thought you needed a special skill to even tame one."

"Ra is a kind of monster that's summoned by a special item." Kirito explained. "I found it inside a dungeon in the desert on floor sixty-one. It was kind of a weird item. When I first got it, I didn't know how to use it. The only thing in the description was some kind of riddle."

"You obviously figured out how it works though." Asuna pointed out.

"Yeah, but not until after what happened last time with Bakura." Kirito revealed. "It just… kind of came to me. But what's even weirder is that I seem to be the only one who can read the text Ra's effects are written in."

"Mind if I take a look?" Asuna asked.

Kirito brought up his menu screen and pulled up the description on Ra. The description listed three effects written in ancient hieratic text.

"Well I have no trouble reading what this stuff say." Asuna revealed.

"You mean you can actually read it?" a surprised Kirito asked. "But it's written in some kind of Ancient Egyptian text!"

Asuna took a closer look at the text and her eyes widened. "You're right! But I can read it like it was Japanese. How is this possible?"

"I don't know." Kirito replied with a shrug. "The only thing I can come up with is that we've both got some kind of weird skill."

"Well whatever it is, all these effects look like riddles of some kind." Asuna observed. "Do you know what they mean?"

"The first effect is the one I used to destroy that ring you had." Kirito explained. "It's some kind of power that purifies darkness. The second effect explains how Ra's attacks work. Basically the more HP I give up, the stronger Ra's attack power."

"But you had to give up a lot of HP to destroy Bakura's demon." Asuna recalled.

"I know. That's why it's pretty dangerous to use it against a boss." Kirito pointed out.

"So what's this third effect do?" Asuna asked.

"I'm still trying to figure that out." Kirito answered.

Asuna looked at the third piece of text. "And the player and Ra shall become one. His invincible flames shall become like armor and his power shall burn all enemies. Let those who use this power beware, for the flames shall consume the body of the player if left burning too long. It sounds powerful, but I have no clue what it means."

"No clue. But I'll probably figure it out eventually." Kirito assumed.

The conversation was interrupted when Kirito and Asuna heard footsteps approaching. The both got to their feet and reached for their weapons, only to find that it was only Klein and the rest of Fuurinkazan.

Klein noticed Kirito and immediately went up to him. "Hey Kirito. I didn't expect to find you here."

"Yeah. Hi Klein." Kirito greeted back.

Klein suddenly noticed that Kirito wasn't alone. "Hey, what's the deal Kirito? I thought you played solo."

"Well, you see…" Kirito began to explain.

Suddenly Klein noticed Asuna's looks and pushed Kirito aside before he could finish. "Hey there, beautiful. My name's Klein, what's yours?"

Kirito punched Klein hard in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground. The other members of Fuurinkazan glared at Kirito before suddenly noticing Asuna's beautiful appearance as well. Quickly, they began to gather around her.

"Back off, guys!" Kirito told them as he quickly got in front of Asuna.

Klein suddenly got up and stomped on Kirito's foot. Kirito ended up hopping on one foot for a few moments.

"So man, how long were you going to hold out on me?" Klein asked Kirito.

"Looks like there's a party we weren't invited to." A familiar voice cut in. Kirito and the other looked and saw it was Joey and the rest of the Warriors of Unity.

"Oh, hi guys." Kirito greeted.

"Hello Kirito." Yugi greeted back. "I trust you're doing well."

"Uh, Kirito? I obviously know Yugi and his friends, but who're these other guys?" Asuna asked.

"Oh, sorry." Kirito responded. "Asuna, everyone, this is Klein and his guild, Fuurinkazan. They're sort of friends of mine."

"Oh hey, you're those guys who helped Kirito take out that field boss awhile back." Klein recalled as he approached Yugi and the others. "You guys are pretty good."

"It's nice to know that Kirito has a few other friends in this game." Anzu remarked.

"Well, I'd be happy to become a friend of yours, gorgeous." Klein replied in a suave manner as he took Anzu's hand.

Anzu bonked Klein on the head with her staff. "Yeah, I'm not interested in getting that friendly."

The conversation was interrupted yet again by more footsteps. Everyone looked and saw a fairly large group of soldiers clad in grey armor and green capes. Each of the soliders wore grey helmets that hid the top halves of their faces. The soldiers stopped before Kirito and the others.

The leader of the men stepped forward. "I'm Corbatz, a commander of the Aincrad Liberation Army. My men and I are working to clear this dungeon. If any of you have map data on this dungeon, I suggest you hand it over to us."

"Okay, fine." Kirito agreed.

"What? Are you nuts Kirito?" a surprised Klein asked. "It's hard work mapping a dungeon, and map data can be sold for a pretty good price. You're just going to hand it over to these guys?"

"I was going to go public with the map later anyway." Kirito revealed as he sent Corbatz the data.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Corbatz told them.

Yugi looked over Corbatz's men and noticed that they all looked exhausted. "Your men look like they haven't rested for days. Perhaps you should leave and come back another time. No good can come from pushing your men too far."

"We are fighting to clear this game as quickly as possible!" Corbatz argued. "There is no time for rest!"

"Fine, but you guys should at least stay away from the boss." Kirito told him. "It's pretty powerful. You'll need a lot more guys if you want to try and take it down."

"I'll take that under advisement." Korbatz replied before turning back to his men. "Move out!" With that, Kirito and the others as the soldiers marched off.

"Man! Some of those guys in the liberation army are messed up." Klein remarked.

"No kidding." Joey agreed.

"So Kirito, you and Asuna actually saw the boss of this floor?" Honda asked.

"Yeah, and even if all of us tried working together I'm not sure we could beat it." Kirito replied.

"Perhaps we should ask Kaiba for help." Yugi suggested.

"What? Yugi, you've gotta be kidding!" Joey declared. "Do we really have to ask that jerk for help?"

"Kaiba is the leader of one of the strongest guilds in this game." Anzu pointed out. "If we got him to help, maybe…"

Before Anzu could finish her thought, everyone heard a scream coming from down the corridor. Everyone ran to see what had happened only to find the doors to the boss room open. Corbatz and his men were being slaughtered by The Gleam Eyes.

"What the hell?" Joey exclaimed.

"We should've known that Corbatz would be too arrogant to heed Kirito's warning." Yugi noted.

"Hey! Use your teleport crystals and get out of there!" Kirito told the soldiers.

"We can't! They don't work in here!" one of the soldiers revealed before Gleam Eyes cut him in two with his blade.

As Kirito watched the soldier's body shatter into polygons, he suddenly flashed back to the day the Moonlit Black Cats were slaughtered. He remembered how they tried teleporting out of the dungeon only to find that their crystals didn't work. Suddenly Korbatz was knocked away and hit the ground right in front of Kirito. His helmet shattered apart and his HP dropped to zero.

"How can this be?" Corbatz managed to ask before shattering apart into polygons.

Enraged by the deaths of the soldiers, Asuna suddenly charged in and attacked Gleam Eyes. The blue demon slashed Asuna with his blade, knocking her into the wall and causing her HP to drop into the yellow zone. Kirito ran to Asuna's side while Yugi and Anzu began blasting the demon with magic. Honda fired a few shots from the pistol he kept at his waste, and Joey hit the creature with a blade of flames from his sword. The demon's second remaining HP gauge dropped by half, but it was far from defeated.

"We're just not doing enough damage!" Anzu told the others. "At this rate, we're done for!"

Kirito searched desperately for a way out of their current predicament. The last thing he wanted was to see what happened with the Moonlit Black Cats happen again. Suddenly a thought came into Kirito's mind. Somehow the secret of Ra's final power had become clear. Kirito brought up his menu screen and caused his second sword to appear on his back. He drew both swords and began walking towards Gleam Eyes.

"Yugi, you and the others take care of Corbatz's men!" Kirito told him. "I'll handle this!"

"Kirito! Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Yugi asked.

"Trust me. I've got this." Kirito calmly assured him.

Kirito began chanting something in another language under his breath. Ra appeared behind Kirito in his phoenix form, causing Gleam Eyes to notice. Kirito's eyes had turned golden and Ra suddenly shrunk down and wrapped him in flames. Kirito charged at Gleam Eyes and began slashing wildly at the demon with both swords. The demon counterattacked by slashing Kirito with his own giant weapon, but the blade didn't seem to do any damage.

"What the hell is going on here?" Klein wondered as he looked on with awe.

Kirito's attacks continued, causing massive damage to the demon. In a matter of moments its final HP gauge dropped into the red. Kirito swung the sword in his right hand to deliver the killing blow, but Gleam Eyes managed to block the blade with his claw. Kirito however was still able to swing the sword in his left hand. And in one slash Gleam Eyes shattered apart into polygons. With the beast vanquished, the gold flames surrounding Kirito subsided. But suddenly his HP, which a moment ago seemed untouchable, suddenly dropped to a small red sliver. Left exhausted by the battle, Kirito suddenly collapsed.

Kirito awoke after an uncertain amount of time Kirito awoke to find Asuna looking down on him. An expression of worry was on her face. As Kirito slowly sat up, Asuna threw her arms around him.

"Thank god you're alive!" Asuna tearful spoke. "Don't do anything to scare me like that again."

"Kirito, are you okay?" a concerned Yugi asked.

"Yeah, I think so?" Kirito answered. "How's everyone else?"

"Everyone in our group and Klein's is okay." Yugi answered. "But I'm afraid only four of Corbatz's men survived."

"Damn it!" Klein cursed. "That stupid Corbatz getting most of his guys killed! There's no point to any of this if you die!"

"Well, at least we're all still alive." Honda pointed out. "And we've got one less floor to clear before we get out of this game."

"Hey Kirito. That was a crazy fight." Joey remarked. "I didn't know you could use Ra to become all invincible like that."

"Never mind that. What about how you wielded two swords?" Klein cut in. "I've never seen any other player who can do that."

"Oh that. I found out a few months ago that I had that skill." Kirito revealed. "It's called dual wielding. I kind of kept it a secret because I knew a lot of the other players would get jealous."

"Yeah, a lot of MMO players are pretty much like that." Klein agreed.

"Until now, Asuna plus Yugi and his friend were the only ones who knew I had this skill." Kirito continued. "But I guess the secret's out now."

"Yeah, well my guys and I are going to activate the gate to get to the next floor." Klein decided. "You take it easy, Kirito."

* * *

On the following day, word had quickly spread of Kirito's victory over Gleam Eyes. Practically every player had heard about the Black Swordsman's wondrous dual wielding skill and his strange golden dragon. It had gotten so bad that Kirito had been unable to show his face without being mobbed by a gang of people. With nowhere else to go, Kirito had been hiding out in Agil's shop for most of the day while he tried to figure out what he should do. Lisbeth was there at the shop with him.

"Man, you really have become a celebrity." Agil remarked to Kirito as he read a holographic screen showing the story of Kirito's battle. "Listen to this. Using his dual blades, the swordsman took out a blue demon that killed fifty soldiers."

"That report's exaggerating the facts." Kirito told him. "Only a handful of soldiers took on that thing."

"Either way though, you sure are stuck." Agil noted.

"Tell me about it." Kirito agreed. "I had to move out of my place to avoid being hounded."

"Well, that's what you get for revealing your secret moves." Lisbeth pointed out.

Before Kirito could respond, the door to Agil's shop was busted open. Two men from the Knights of the Blood Oath barged in.

"What the hell is this?" Agil protested as he got to his feet.

"You're coming with us, Black Swordsman!" one of the knights ordered. "Commander Kaiba wishes to speak with you."

"And if I refuse?" Kirito asked.

"Trust me. You really don't wanna do that." The other knight warned with a sinister smirk.

Seeing no other choice, Kirito went with the two knights. A few minutes later he had been escorted to Kaiba's office at the Knights of the Blood Oath headquarters. He was surprised to find Asuna there too upon his arrival.

"Kirito! Are you okay?" a concerned Asuna asked.

"I'm fine." Kirito assured her.

"Nice of you to come, Kirito." Kaiba spoke from behind his desk.

"What's all this about?" Kirito demanded to know.

"I'll get to the point." Kaiba replied. "Due to recent casualties, I've taken to recruiting new members into the guild. And I've decided I want to recruit you."

"Are you serious?" Kirito responded.

"You've already proven to be a powerful player by taking down the boss of the seventy-fourth floor single-handed." Kaiba pointed out. "I could a powerful player like you. I've also decided to take Asuna back as well, so you'll be working with friends."

"Sorry. Not interested." Kirito told him.

"Me neither." Asuna agreed.

"You both seem to be under the mistaken impression that I was giving you both a choice." Kaiba informed him. "But I'll give you both a sporting chance. If Kirito can defeat me in a duel, then I'll forget about this whole thing. However if he loses, you both have to join my guild."

"Fine! I'll take your challenge!" Kirito agreed.

"Very well. We'll hold the duel tomorrow morning." Kaiba decided. "And I think you'll find Kirito that I'm far worse than any demon you've faced in this game."

* * *

**Author's Note:** This chapter was originally going to be two separate chapters, but the first one ended up being a little two short. So they ended up getting merged. Anyway, I decided to keep The Gleam Eyes from SAO as the boss of Floor 74. It's just such an iconic monster from that series. Or at least I think it is. There will be one other monster from SAO appearing in its original role in this story. Try and guess which one.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	16. The Revenge of Laughing Coffin

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 15: The Revenge of Laughing Coffin

Word of the duel between Kirito and Kaiba had spread quickly among the players of MWO. Practically everyone wanted to witness the battle between the illustrious leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath and the famed Black Swordsman who defeated Gleam Eyes. The morning of the duel came, and the stadium on the seventy-fifth floor where it was being held had been packed to the rafters. Kirito waited in one of the locker rooms for the fight to start. Asuna was also there waiting with him.

"I still can't believe you accepted Commander Kaiba's challenge." Asuna told him.

"It's not like I had much of a choice." Kirito pointed out. "Besides, I think I can beat him."

"Well just be careful." Asuna replied. "Commander Kaiba has a pretty unique skill too."

"I've heard about it. It's called Aura Blade, right?" Kirito recalled.

"That's right. Somehow he can charge his weapon with mystical energy and send it right at his opponents." Asuna confirmed. "It's about as powerful as the attack used by his dragon."

"I can't believe he's one of the few warrior players in this game who has a magical ability like that." Kirito remarked.

"It's one of the reasons why he's one of the strongest players in this game." Asuna pointed out.

"Well, I'll find some way to beat him." Kirito declared as he rose to his feet.

A few minutes later, Kirito was walking onto the arena floor. Kaiba was already there, clade in a suit of white armor with a blue gemstone on the front of the chest plate. The pieces of shoulder armor he had one were crafted to look like the head of his dragon. With his left arm he carried a white shield with a red cross on the front. The audience cheered as Kirito took his position for battle, and the whole time Asuna was watching from the entryway Kirito had emerged from.

"I wasn't really expecting this big of a crowd." Kaiba remarked. "I'll try not to make your humiliation too painful."

"You're going the one who gets humiliated." Kirito declared.

At this, Kaiba merely chuckled and sent Kirito the duel invitation. Upon accepting, Kirito drew both his swords and got ready to attack as the timer ticked down. As soon as the clock hit zero, Kirito charged full speed at Kaiba, slashing his swords wildly. Kaiba easily blocked the attacks with his shield. After a few moments, Kaiba used his shield to knock Kirito back a few feet. Kirito easily recovered and began to charge at him again.

Suddenly Kaiba raised his sword and the blade began glowing with a strange blue light. With one swing, Kaiba sent a massive blast of blue energy at Kirito that hit him in the chest and knocked him onto his back. His HP had dropped into the red zone. The duel had ended and Kirito had lost.

"I'll expect you and Asuna to report for duty first thing tomorrow morning." Kaiba told Kirito with a triumphant smirk before turning and walking off.

* * *

The following day, Kirito and Asuna were in the backroom of Agil's shop as Kirito tried on his new uniform. It was a white version of his normal outfit with red trim. Kirito didn't feel that the colors suited him at all.

"Not bad." Asuna commented.

"Doesn't this guild have anything that's less flashy?" Kirito asked.

"I'm sure you'll get used to it." Asuna told him. "Mind if I ask you something? Why have you always stayed away from joining a guild? I mean you are a pretty nice person, for one thing."

At this, Kirito's expression darkened and he sat down on the bed. "I was in a guild once. It was called the Moonlit Black Cats. Besides me, it was made up mostly low-level players. One day we were led into a trap that Bakura had set for us. And because I wasn't able to protect them, they all died."

Asuna was shaken by this news. She immediately went over and wrapped her arms around Kirito. "It's okay. I'll… I'll protect you."

Kirito was comforted by Asuna's words. Somehow the guilt he felt over the deaths of Sachi and the others had lessened. After a few moments, the two of them finally left and went to the headquarters of the Knights of the Blood Oath. They went to one of the sitting rooms within the castle to try and relax for a bit. But they did not relax for very long. Only a few minutes after they had sat down, Godfrey had entered the room.

"Hi there, new guy." Godfrey greeted to Kirito in his usual jolly manner. "I've come to administer your training."

"Training? But Kirito's level is way above yours." A surprised Asuna pointed out. "And I was hoping he and I could spend some time together."

"You know the rules, Asuna. All new members have to go through training to evaluate their skills." Godfrey reminded her.

"Besides, you have other plans." A familiar voice told her. The three looked as Kaiba entered the room. "You can play house with Kirito another time. Right now, you're coming on a mission with me. I want to make sure your own skills haven't dulled while you've been away."

"Don't worry. Kirito won't be going on this mission alone." Godfrey assured Asuna. "I've picked the perfect person to come with."

As if on cue, Kuradeel entered the room. Both Kirito and Asuna were very surprised by this development.

"You mean he's going to go with us?" Kirito asked Godfrey as he pointed at Kuradeel.

"I heard about what happened between you two a few days ago and thought this would be the perfect opportunity for you to patch things up." Godfrey explained.

"I apologize for my actions." Kuradeel told Kirito.

"See? Now we're all friends." Godfrey remarked as he patted Kirito hard on the back.

"Godfrey, I'll leave Kirito in your hands." Kaiba told him. "I expect a detailed report on his performance."

"You can count on me, sir." Godfrey assured him.

"Well then, let's all be off." Kaiba told them. "We've all got places to be."

With that, Kirito and Asuna were forced to part ways. Before they left the castle, Godfrey had Kirito and Kuradeel hand over the various mystical crystals they had in their possession so he could do a fair evaluation of their skills. The three of them headed out to a desolate area on the fifty-fifth floor. After several minutes of walking they stopped to have lunch. Kirito was greatly disappointed that the only thing to eat was a simple loaf of bread. He wished very much to have one of Asuna's homemade sandwiches instead.

As Kirito drank his ration of water, he suddenly noticed that Kuradeel wasn't eating. Instead he was sitting there watching both him and Godfrey as if waiting for something. Suddenly Kirito felt his body go limp. He had been paralyzed, realizing far too late that the water had been poisoned. Godfrey also suffered from the effects of the toxin as well. With the other two members of his party paralyzed, Kuradeel rose to his feet and began to laugh.

"Kuradeel! What is all this?" Godfrey demanded to know.

"We were on a simple training mission and the two of you died in a tragic accident." Kuradeel replied as he drew his sword. "At least that's what I'm going to tell everyone when I return to headquarters."

"Quick! Use a healing crystal on yourself!" Kirito told Godfrey.

Godfrey managed to pull out a green crystal, but Kuradeel easily kicked it out of the bearded man's hand. He then began to stab Godfrey repeatedly with his sword. Kirito could only watch as Godfrey's HP dropped. The whole time, Kuradeel laughed with fiendish glee as he twisted the blade. Within only a few moments his body shattered into polygons.

"You bastard!" Kirito cursed. "Why isn't someone like you in one of the murder guilds?"

"Oh, but I am." Kuradeel revealed as he brought up his menu screen. His right sleeve rolled up to reveal the emblem of Laughing Coffin tattooed on his forearm. "That's where I learned the skills I used to poison the water you just drank."

"So… you've been a member of Laughing Coffin this whole time?" Kirito realized.

"Ever since the Knights of the Blood Oath guild was founded." Kuradeel admitted as he rolled his sleeve back down and walked over to Kirito. "When that fool Godfrey selected me to go on this mission with you, it was the perfect opportunity for me to get revenge on you for what you did to me. And for killing Master Bakura!"

For a brief moment, Kirito wondered how Kuradeel would react if he knew that Bakura was actually still alive and controlling this game. But he quickly decided it didn't matter. Kuradeel began to stab him with his blade, and Kirito watched as his HP slowly began to drop. As the life drained from him, Kirito thought of Asuna and of how she would be left alone in the game if he died. He didn't want that to happen. Weakly, he tried to pull the blade of Kuradeel's sword out of his chest, but it was impossible with Kuradeel forcing it into him.

Suddenly a fast-moving object swooped in and knocked Kuradeel away. It took Kirito a moment to realize that it was Asuna. With a worried expression on her face, Asuna pulled out a green healing crystal and used it to restore Kirito's HP and remove his paralysis.

"Thank god I got here in time." Asuna spoke.

"How did you…?" Kirito began to ask as he sat up.

"I was keeping an eye on you on the map and got worried." Asuna explained.

"Commander Asuna! Thank goodness you're here." Kuradeel spoke as he got back to his feet. "We were passing through here when we were suddenly ambushed by players killers, and…"

Asuna did not believe Kuradeel's story for an instant. Instead she rushed over and delivered several powerful strikes with her sword. His HP gauge dropped into the red zone in a matter of seconds.

"Please! Have mercy!" Kuradeel begged just as Asuna was about to deliver the fatal blow. "I'll, I'll leave the guild! Just please, don't kill me!"

At this, Asuna hesitated. But in that moment Kuradeel grinned and pulled out a dagger. But just as he was about to plunge it into Asuna, Kirito dash in and blocked the knife with his arm. His hand was severed as a result, exposing the red internal wireframe of his avatar. Using his remaining hand, Kirito struck Kuradeel hard in the chest. The strike reduced the traitorous knight's HP to zero.

"You… murderer." Kuradeel uttered before shattering apart into polygons.

Suddenly Asuna dropped to her knees as tears began to stream down her face. "This… this is all my fault. This is the second time you've gotten hurt because of me. I… I shouldn't even be near you."

At this, Kirito pulled Asuna into a hug and their lips met in a deep kiss. It took only an instant for Asuna to relax into it. They stayed like that for only a few moments before needing to break apart for air. Though to them it seemed much longer.

"My life is yours." Kirito told Asuna as he held her. "I swear I'll protect you, and that one day I'll get you back to the real world."

"Aw, isn't that just guys?" an unfamiliar voice mockingly spoke. "Too bad it ain't gonna happen."

Kirito and Asuna looked and suddenly found that several men in hooded black cloaks surrounded them. In an instant they knew that they were from Laughing Coffin.

"It's a real shame we couldn't get here before these two offed Kuradeel." The hooded man who spoke before remarked. "But either way we have ourselves a real catch. The little SOB who killed Master Bakura, and that bitch they call the Dark Flash. Now's the time for a little payback."

Another of the hooded men laughed madly as he pulled out a dagger. "This is gonna be sweet!"

Suddenly a massive molten fireball came down from the sky and hit an area near a cluster of the Laughing Coffin members, causing them to scatter. Kirito and Asuna looked up to see Joey riding on the back of his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. The dragon shot down another fireball that caused more of the player killers to scatter and run off. Only seconds later the couple heard the sound of horses headed in their direction. They looked and saw that it was Yugi, Anzu, and Honda.

Yugi parked his horse a few feet before Asuna and Kirito and dismounted. "Are you two alright?"

"Not that we're not glad to see you, but what are you guys doing here?" Kirito asked.

"We heard that Kaiba made you join his guild and became worried." Yugi explained. "I wanted to keep an eye on you, so we decided to follow you when you left the castle earlier."

As a few of the Laughing Coffin members tried taking shelter from the attacks of Red-Eyes, a massive stream of blue electrical energy rained down near them. Everyone looked up to see Kaiba riding on the back of the Blue-Eyes. As the remaining Laughing Coffin members ran for their lives, the white dragon landed near where the others had gathered. Kaiba dismounted and began to approach Kirito and Asuna as Joey landed Red-Eyes.

"Asuna! What is the meaning of abandoning the mission and taking off like that?" Kaiba demanded to know.

"If I hadn't, Kirito would be dead right now!" Asuna told him.

"Kuradeel was a spy." Kirito informed him. "He's been working for Laughing Coffin all along. And because of him, Godfrey's dead."

"What kind of messed up guild are you running, Kaiba?" Joey demanded to know. "Don't you run background checks or something?"

"I'll admit that I have been suspicious of Kuradeel in the past. But as it seems he's dead, it no longer matters." Kaiba coldly replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking Kirito and Asuna back to headquarters with me. It seems a little bit of discipline may be in order."

"Kaiba, they're not going anywhere with you!" Yugi declared.

"You dare to tell me what to do with the members of my own guild?" an outraged Kaiba asked.

"You forced Asuna and Kirito to join your guild so you could use their power for yourself." Yugi told him. "The way I see it, you don't deserve their loyalty."

"The way I run my guild is none of your business!" Kaiba argued. "Now leave!"

"You leave me no choice Kaiba. I challenge you to a duel right here and now!" Yugi declared. "If I win, you'll let Kirito and Asuna out of your guild!"

"And what happens if you lose?" Kaiba asked.

"Then I will dissolve my guild and my friends and I will join yours." Yugi answered.

"Yugi, wait!" Kirito tried to protest.

"Relax man. Yugi knows what he's doing." Joey assured him.

"You know that might be pretty amusing." Kaiba admitted. "Fine! But I hope you're prepared to bow down to me when you lose!"

Yugi and Kaiba walked a few feet away from the others and took their positions. Kaiba sent Yugi a duel invitation, which Yugi promptly accepted. The timer ticked down and both Yugi and Kaiba prepared to attack.

"I'm going to end this quick!" Kaiba declared as soon as the timer hit zero.

With a swing of his sword, Kaiba sent a massive blast of blue energy at Yugi. Yugi quickly raised his wand above his head and chanted something under his breath. Suddenly Kaiba's attack was sucked into the orb atop Yugi's wand.

"What… what is this?" a surprised Kaiba demanded to know.

"A dark spell known as Reflection Prism." Yugi calmly explained. "It allows me to absorb magical attacks and sends them back with four times the force. I knew you'd try using an attack that was all power, so I decided to use that same power against you."

"Damn you!" Kaiba cursed.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this." Yugi told him. "Taste the power of your own attack!"

With that, Yugi swung his wand down and sent the massive blast of energy back towards Kaiba. Kaiba raised his shield to block the attack, but the attack shattered the shield apart and also destroyed Kaiba's arm. Kaiba fell to his knees and his HP gauge went into the red.

"I won, Kaiba." Yugi told him.

Kaiba punched the ground with his remaining first before standing back up. "Fine! I don't need those two in my guild! I can clear this game without them!"

"Kaiba, at least let Anzu heal your arm before you leave." Yugi offered.

"I don't need your pity!" Kaiba shot back. "You may have won today Yugi, but I'll pay you back when we get back to the real world. In the meantime, just try and stay alive until then."

With that, Kaiba mounted his dragon and flew off. Both Kirito and Asuna gave a sigh of relief as soon as he was gone.

"Even in a virtual world, that guy still finds a way to be a jerk." Joey remarked.

"Hey Kirito, let me use my magic to heal your hand." Anzu offered.

"Huh? Oh, sure." Kirito agreed, remembering that his hand had been severed only moments ago.

Anzu knelt down and moved her right hand over Kirito's severed stump. A white light shined down from her palm and his hand began to grow back. As Kirito watched Anzu work he couldn't help but think about how easily Yugi had defeated Kaiba, and about the time when they worked together to defeat the Berserk Dragon. Kitito had to admit that he had a lot of respect for Yugi, and he couldn't help but feel that Yugi was a much better player than he could hope to be.

"There. All done." Anzu informed Kirito as soon as his hand finished growing back.

"Hey Yugi… is that offer to join your guild still good?" Kirito suddenly asked.

"Kirito?" a surprised Asuna responded.

"For the past two years I've been fighting to clear this game on my own. But I'm not sure if I can do that anymore." Kirito admitted. "This game's been getting more and more dangerous. If I keep going on my own, it's probably only a matter of time before I get myself killed. But maybe if I worked with you and your friends, we might have a shot at getting out alive."

"If Kirito's joining your guild, then I'd like to join too." Asuna requested.

"Very well. We'd be happy to welcome you both." Yugi agreed.

"Alright! Now we're up to six." Joey happily observed.

"Why don't the two of you come to town with us to celebrate?" Anzu suggested.

"Thanks, but Asuna and I have had a pretty long day. I think we'll just go get some rest." Kirito told them. "Hey Asuna, is it okay if I crash at your place tonight? I, uh… I can just sleep on the couch."

"Sure, that's fine." Asuna agreed.

* * *

Asuna awoke in her bed after an uncertain amount of time. It was the middle of the night, and she saw that Kirito was sitting on the side of her bed. It took Asuna a moment to recall that Kirito was staying the night, and she was quite relived to find him there.

Kirito glanced back and saw that Asuna was awake. "You okay? I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, I just had kind of a bad dream." Asuna explained as she sat up. "I was back in my old life. But it was like you and I had never met. This is the first time that I'm happy that all this wasn't a dream."

"You know, I think that we should take some time off from fighting on the front lines." Kirito suggested. "I feel like something bad will happen right now if we go back."

"Me too." Asuna agreed. "Maybe we should ask for some time off. I'm sure Yugi wouldn't mind."

"You know down on floor twenty-two, there's a little village next to forest." Kirito informed her. "I was thinking that we could get a house there together. And that… we could get married."

Asuna smiled as tears came to her eyes. "Sure."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I had kind of a hard time figuring out how the battle between Kirito and Kaiba was going to go down. In the end I just decided to have Kaiba use some kind of energy blast to defeat Kirito. That choice was kind of influenced by the later part of the chapter that had the battle between Yugi and Kaiba.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	17. Yui of the Morning Dew

**Author's Note:** The updates to this story are probably going to slow down a little over the next few days. For one thing I still have kind of a busy week ahead of me. Plus a couple of days ago there was a small incident that left me emotionally compromised, for lack of a better term. As a result, working on this story has been a little difficult. But don't worry, I fully intend to finish it in the fairly near future.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 16: Yui of the Morning Dew

On the day of October twenty-fourth, 2024, following the incident with Kuradeel, Kirito and Asuna requested Yugi for some time off. Yugi was of course happy to give it to them, as their guild was more of a fellowship rather than a military organization. Soon after, Kirito and Asuna had gotten married and headed down to the twenty-second floor. Using all of their combined money they bought a small cottage near a lake by the woods. It was a small but quant house that was fairly isolated from the nearby villages, making it the perfect place for any young couple that wanted to get away from it all.

Almost four days had gone by since Kirito and Asuna had begun their little honeymoon. There was little to do at their quiet little refuge. So that morning Kirito decided that they should go out to the woods for some fun. A gentle breeze blew as they walked hand in hand down the path by the lake.

"Hey Asuna, do you think that after we get out of this game our relationship will be the same?" Kirito suddenly asked. "I mean what if the only reason we're together is because…"

"Don't say that." Asuna told him before he could finish. "My love for you is real. I'm sure of it. Nothing will change once we get back to the real world."

"You're right. I guess I was just being weird." Kirito replied.

"Hey Kirito… would you mind giving me a ride?" Asuna suddenly asked.

"Uh, what?" Kirito responded.

"C'mon, I know your strength parameter can handle it." Asuna told him. "Besides, it's not like anyone will see us."

"Well… okay." Kirito somewhat reluctantly agreed.

With that, Asuna got onto Kirito's back. "Onward, horsey!"

Kirito began to carry Asuna down the wooden path towards the woods. A look of embarrassment was on his face. As they passed the lake they went by a small group of fishermen. One of the fishermen, an older and somewhat overweight man, noticed the couple and waved at them. Kirito hoped that the fishermen were merely NPCs. Within a few more minutes they had entered the forest. The branches of the trees were so thick that they almost completely blocked out the sun.

"Boy, these woods are a little darker than I thought they'd be." Asuna observed as she looked around.

A smirk came to Kirito's face. "You know, I heard a story once that these woods are haunted."

Asuna went a bit pale upon hearing this. "Haunted?"

"Yeah. They say that at night the ghosts of all the monsters that have been hunted and killed here come out to haunt these woods." Kirito continued.

Asuna suddenly felt very uneasy about being in the woods. A part of her knew of course that Kirito was only messing with her and had probably made up the ghost story on the spot. But she never had been fond of ghosts, and she certainly didn't want to take the chance of running into one. As Asuna continued to look around the forest, she suddenly saw a figure clad in white in the distance. At first, Asuna assumed that it was a ghost. But after a moment she realized that it was only a young girl with long black hair wearing a white dress.

"Kirito, look!" Asuna told him as she pointed at the girl.

Kirito saw the girl too and went over. The whole time the girl had simply been standing in that one spot looking up. After Asuna dismounted Kirito's back, Kirito walked up to her and touched her on the shoulder. Immediately the girl collapsed. Kirito caught her before she hit the ground.

"What's wrong with her?" a concerned Asuna asked.

"I don't know." Kirito answered. "There's something weird though. She doesn't have a player cursor."

"You're right." Asuna observed as she noticed the absence of any sort of diamond-shaped object hovering over the girl's head.

"We better take her back to the house." Kirito decided.

With that, the couple took the girl with them back to their little cottage. They put her on the spare bed in their room. Not once did the girl wake up.

"I wonder why this girl doesn't have a cursor." Asuna spoke as they looked at the girl's sleeping form. "Is it some kind of glitch?"

"Well she's not an NPC." Kirito replied. "If she was, there would've been an alert as soon as we touched her. "The other thing that's weird is that she's pretty young to be playing this game. The NerveGear has an age restriction."

"Do you think maybe she was somehow playing the game with her family and got separated from them at some point?" Asuna suggested.

"I don't think we'll find out anything until she wakes up." Kirito pointed out. "All we can do now is wait."

The rest of the day continued uneventfully. The whole time, Kirito and Asuna's houseguest didn't wake up even once. Night eventually came and both Kirito and Asuna went to bed themselves. When Asuna woke up the next morning she saw that the girl was awake and sitting up in bed. Asuna quietly but quickly awoke Kirito and the two went over to the girl.

"Hi there." Asuna greeted as she sat on the side of the bed, getting the girl's attention. "You don't have to be afraid of us. We're not going to hurt you. Can you tell us your name?"

The girl looked at Asuna and Kirito for a few moments. "I'm… Yui."

"Yui, do you know where your parents are?" Kirito asked. At this, Yui shook her head. "Okay, can you tell us how you ended up in the forest?"

"I don't know." Yui answered as she shook her head again. "I don't remember anything."

"This is worse than we thought." Asuna remarked to Kirito.

"Who're you?" Yui suddenly asked.

"Oh, sorry." Asuna responded. "My name's Asuna."

"Au… na?" Yui spoke as if she was having trouble with the name.

"My name's Kirito." The young swordsman informed her. "Can you say it?"

"Ki… to." Yui spoke, again seeming to struggle with the name.

"Why don't you just call us whatever you feel comfortable with." Kirito suggested.

Yui looked again at Kirito and Asuna for a few moments. "Daddy… Mommy."

Kirito and Asuna were both a little taken aback by what Yui decided to refer to them as. Neither of them had expected a situation where they would suddenly become parents. But they both decided to go along with it.

"Okay then. I'm Mommy." Asuna finally agreed.

Deciding that they would figure their next move later, Kirito and Asuna began to spend the day with their newly acquired daughter. Lunchtime came and Yui sat on the couch with Kirito as they both ate sandwiches that Asuna had prepared. As they ate, Yui watched Kirito as he took a bite out of his own sandwich.

Kirito quickly noticed Yui eyeing his meal. "You want a bite Yui?"

"Uh-huh." Yui confirmed.

"I don't know. It's pretty spicy." Kirito informed her with a smirk. "You sure you can handle it?"

"Uh-huh." Yui insisted.

With that, Kirito gave Yui a bite. Asuna watched on expecting Yui to react badly to the intense flavors. But to her surprise, Yui seemed to enjoy it.

"It tastes good." Yui declared.

"Wow Yui. You must have a fireproof mouth." An impressed Kirito observed. "Maybe we can get your mom to cook an extra spicy dinner for us tonight."

"No way! I am not cooking anything nuclear!" Asuna told them.

Before the conversation could go further, they all heard a knock on the door. Asuna got up to answer. She opened the door to find Yugi and the rest of the gang on the other side. They were all wearing civilian attire. Yugi had on a purple jacket with a black shirt and long purple pants and black boots, white Anzu had on a sleeveless yellow shirt with a short white skirt with a silver belt that had a round blue gem on the front. Joey's outfit consisted of a red jacket with a black shirt and long blue pants, and Honda had on a brown jacket with a white shirt and long black pants.

"Oh, hi guys." Asuna greeted.

"Hello Asuna." Yugi greeted back. "Might we come in?"

"Yeah, sure." Asuna agreed as she stepped aside to allow them to enter.

"Sorry to barge into your little love nest like this." Joey spoke as the four of them walked in. "But we just wanted to see how you guys were doing."

"Mommy, who are these people?" Yui asked.

The visitors were greatly surprised by what Yui had called Asuna. Even Yugi, who was in his heroic persona, had widened his eyes a bit. The four of them all looked carefully at Kirito, Asuna, and Yui as if trying to detect some kind of family resemblance.

"Uh, did you guys unlock some feature in this game we didn't know about?" Anzu asked.

"Yeah, and how long have we been gone?" Joey added.

"It's not like that." Kirito told them. "Look, if you'll all sit down we'll explain what's going on. It's kind of a long story."

Yugi and the others gathered around and Kirito and Asuna told them about how they had found Yui in the woods. They also revealed that Yui seemed to have no memory about how she had ended up there or anything about her past besides her own name. During the recounting, Yui had fallen asleep on the couch next to Kirito.

"Just when I thought this game couldn't get any weirder." Joey remarked.

"What could've happened that could've caused Yui to lose her memory?" Anzu wondered.

"Maybe her NerveGear's defective or something." Honda theorized. "Or maybe she tried hacking it and something went wrong. I mean that would kind of explain how a kid like her could've gotten into this game."

"Kirito and I think that maybe Yui was playing this game with her real family and she somehow got separated from them." Asuna informed them.

"If that's true, where do we start looking?" Joey asked.

"You know, there are a bunch of kids down in Starting City on the first floor." Anzu recalled. "Maybe someone from there might know something."

"It's as good a place to start as any, I guess." Kirito agreed.

"Aren't those Aincrad Liberation guys in control of the city?" Honda recalled.

"Yes. It's been their base of operations for almost as long as the game has been going." Yugi confirmed. "Going there could be a little dangerous."

"You guys don't have to help with this, you know." Kirito told them. "I'm sure Asuna and I can figure this out."

"Don't be silly, Kirito. It's no trouble for us." Anzu assured him.

"Yeah. We do this kind of thing a lot." Joey added.

"Kirito, we let you and Asuna join our guild because we consider you two to be our friends." Yugi reminded him. "Please, let us help you."

"…Okay." Kirito finally agreed. "But let's wait and go tomorrow. And we should probably go armed."

"Yes. The players in that city may not be eager to welcome us." Yugi agreed.

The following morning the whole group teleported down to the town square of Starting City. They had ended in almost the exact spot where the recording of Kayaba had revealed that they were all trapped inside the virtual world that they had been living in for nearly two years. All of them had come to the city wearing their civilian attire. After picking a random direction the seven headed down the street. Kirito carried Yui on his back the whole time.

As they walked, Kirito and the others couldn't help but notice the city's state of decay. The streets and buildings had become dingy and lined with shops selling strange items. The only other people that seemed to be out walking around besides the shopkeepers were soldiers clad in the armor of the Aincrad Liberation Army.

"Man! This place really has gone down hill." Joey remarked as he looked around.

"This city was originally meant as a place for new players to start their journey through the game." Yugi pointed out. "But because of the nature of this game, this city has become stagnant."

"Go away!" a woman's voice shouted from down one of the alleys.

"Sounds like trouble." Honda observed.

"Let's go!" Yugi told them.

Kirito and the others ran down the alley to find a woman with brown hair and glasses wearing a purple dress with a long skirt, making her appear like a schoolteacher. She was trying to shield a group of four children from a small gang made up of seven soldiers.

"Look lady, you're behind on paying your taxes." The lead soldier told the woman. "But we'll be willing to forget about this whole thing if you and those kids will hand over all the money and battle gear you've go on ya."

"Hey!" Joey interrupted as he and the others got between the woman and the gang of soldiers. "Who the hell do you guys think you are picking on a defenseless girl and a bunch of kids like that?"

"Who the hell do you think you are interfering in official army business?" the lead soldier retorted.

"Hey, I think I recognize these guys." Another of the soldiers cut in. "They're that guild called the Warriors of Unity."

"That do-gooder guild?" the lead soldier asked with a laugh. "I would've thought they'd be on one of the higher levels. What're they doing here?"

"Our business is none of your concern, scum!" Yugi told him. "Now leave!"

"Or what?" the lead soldier asked.

"Or get ready for the fight of your life, jerk!" Joey answered as he took a fighting stance.

"Yeah! Seven of these guys should be no problem." Honda agreed as he joined Joey.

"Let me handle this." Asuna told them as she walked past and drew her sword. "Kirito, keep an eye on Yui."

"Got it." Kirito replied.

Before the lead soldier could react, Asuna stuck him several times in the chest with her blade. The force of the attack was strong enough to send him back several feet. The other six soldiers looked on in fear.

"We're in the city, so my attacks won't cause your HP to draw. But I'm sure getting stabbed by my sword isn't fun." Asuna pointed out to the lead soldier as she stood over him. "I can do this all day until you decide to leave."

The lead soldier quickly got to his feet and ran off into the streets. The rest of his men followed close behind.

"Wow! Asuna sure is tough." Joey remarked.

"Yeah. She can be pretty intense sometimes." Honda agreed.

"You guys have no idea." Kirito quietly told them.

"Thank you so much for your help." The woman told the group. "My name's Sasha. I'm not sure what I would've done if you hadn't shown up."

As Yugi and the others told Sasha it wasn't any trouble, Yui suddenly looked up at the sky. "…Everyone's hearts."

"Is something wrong Yui?" Kirito asked upon hearing her mutterings.

"I… I was never here." Yui spoke.

Suddenly Yui cried out and the entire area seemed to give off some kind of strange static. The phenomenon ended only seconds later and Yui lost consciousness and fell from Kirito's back. Kirito managed to catch her before she fell.

"Is Yui okay?" a concerned Asuna asked.

"I don't know." Kirito answered.

"What was it that just happened?" Anzu wondered. "It's like the whole game short circuited or something."

"It happened when Yui became upset." Yugi observed. "I think there might be far more to her than meets the eye."

* * *

**Author's Note:** The fun part about about having Kirito and Asuna in Yugi's guild is that now we get to see more interaction between them and Yugi and his friends. I kind of wish I could've done that a little earlier in the story, but there wasn't really any good way around it. At least not one that I could see with the way I had set things up.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	18. Ancient Memories

**Author's Note:** Okay, so it seems that my week is not going to be as busy as I first thought. And since I seem to be in a more stable mental state at the moment, the progress of this story may not be slowing down as much as I first thought. I'd like to assure everyone though that I'm not pushing myself.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 17: Ancient Memories

Bakura sat atop his throne watching a large holographic screen that showed an image of Kirito and the others as they helped to save Sasha from the gang of soldiers. He had been keeping an eye on Kirito and Asuna ever since the incident where his NPC double had been defeated. As Bakura looked on, he witnessed Yui's outburst and the strange glitch it seemed to cause. Whatever the disturbance was, it was strong enough to cause the screen to lose picture for a few moments. When it came back on, Kirito was holding an unconscious Yui in his arms.

"This is certainly unexpected." Bakura remarked. "Kayaba, do you know anything about this girl?"

"Her identity is just as much a mystery to me as it is to you." Kayaba answered.

"She's certainly not a player. That much I can tell." Bakura replied. "Which means she's a part of this game. But what sort of role does she play?"

"There are aspects of this game that even I am unaware of." Kayaba informed him. "Such as the gold dragon that Kirito used to defeat you before."

"Well whatever that girl is, I figure it out eventually." Bakura declared. "But there is one thing I'm quite certain of. Kirito and Asuna have become very attached to that girl. Which makes her the perfect tool for me to use to add to their misery."

* * *

Kirito and the others had gone with Sasha to a small church that she had turned into an orphanage. The place was filled with child players, many of who were wearing pieces of chest and shoulder armor. Upon their arrival, the group had sat down at a large round table to eat. Yui had since woken up and seemed to have recovered from her strange outburst.

"When this whole death game, I felt like it was my duty to take care of all the kids who ended up getting trapped here." Sasha explained to the others as they ate. "Every day I would go out for walks in the city to find these kids and bring them here."

"Sounds like you've had your hands full." Anzu remarked.

"And you're sure you've never seen Yui before?" Asuna asked.

"She doesn't look familiar to me." Sasha confirmed. "And none of the children here don't seem to recognize her either."

"That seems to confirm what Yui said before blacking out about never being in this city." Yugi noted.

"But how is that possible?" Kirito asked. "Every player on this game has been in Starting City at least once."

"Excuse me." A voice suddenly cut in. The group looked to see a woman with long silver hair tied in a ponytail approaching them. She had on what looked like a green and black military uniform. "Forgive my interruption, but I'd to have a word with all of you."

"That uniform. You're with the Liberation Army." Anzu quickly realized.

"If you've come to complain about earlier, your men started that fight." Kirito told her.

"Actually I'd like to thank you all for what you did." The silver-haired woman told them. "I'd also like to apologize on behalf of the army. My name's Yulier, and I've come to ask for your help."

"What is it that you want our help with?" Yugi asked.

"I should start by explaining how the army has become so corrupt." Yulier began as she sat at the table. "Problems began when our former second-in-command, a player named Kibaou, began to fight for control with our leader, Thinker."

Both Kirito and Asuna quickly recalled Kibaou as one of the players who took part in the battle against Sengenjin. He was the very same one who was partly responsible for why there was so much prejudice against the beta testers in the early days of the game.

"Under Kibaou's leadership, the army became increasingly corrupt and irresponsible." Yulier continued. "Kibaou began forcing the people of this city to pay heavy taxes. After awhile, people began to accuse him of no longer wanting to clear the game. So to prove them all wrong, he sent a party to try and defeat the boss on floor seventy-five."

"Corbatz and his men." Yugi recalled.

"So this jerk Kibaou's the reason why those idiots ended up throwing away their lives." Joey realized. "Man, if I ever run into this guy I'm gonna beat him to a pulp!"

"You're not the only one who feels that way." Yulier told him. "Plans were made to exile Kibaou and his supporters for that massacre. But in a desperate move, Kibaou lured Thinker down into a high-level dungeon hidden on this floor to supposedly apologize for his actions. Thinker went down there without any crystals or battle gear, and Kibaou trapped him there with no way to escape. That's why I've come to ask for your help. I've heard of your guild's reputation and power. If anyone can help me save Thinker, I know you can."

"How do we know you're not leading us into a trap?" Asuna suddenly asked.

"I agree with Asuna." Honda interjected. "How do we know you're not working with Kibaou and trying to get rid of us?"

"Please, you have to help me!" Yulier begged as she suddenly stood up from her chair. "I understand your mistrust, but without you there's no way for me to save Thinker. So please, help me."

"She's telling the truth." Yui suddenly spoke.

"You sure Yui?" Kirito asked.

"Uh-huh." The girl confirmed.

"Well then I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm going to help." Kirito decided. "I'd feel bad later for turning Yulier down if there was some way I could help."

"I feel the same as Kirito." Yugi agreed. "If there really is someone in trouble, then we cannot ignore it. We will help you, Ms. Yulier."

"Thank you." Yulier told them as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Then I guess we're heading to this dungeon then." Asuna observed. "Yui, you stay here with Sasha and the other kids until we come back."

"No! I want to go with you." Yui told them.

"Yui…" Kirito began to reply.

"I'm going!" Yui insisted.

"Whoa! This kid doesn't know how to take no for an answer." Honda remarked.

"It might be okay for Yui to come with us." Anzu suggested. "There are enough of us to protect her if anything goes wrong."

Kirito gave a defeated sigh. "I guess she has a bit of a rebellious side. Okay Yui, you can come with. But be careful, okay?"

"Okay." Yui agreed as a smile quickly returned to her face.

After Kirito and the others changed into their battle gear, they followed Yulier to the dungeon beneath the city. The whole thing was a vast dark labyrinth with a system of waterways running throughout the corridors.

As they walked through the dungeon, Yulier kept an eye on her map. "Thinker has been staying in the same spot ever since he became trapped down here. He must've found some kind of safe zone."

"So what's a dungeon like this doing on the first floor?" Honda asked as he looked around.

"We think it was unlocked sometime after one of the higher floors was cleared." Yulier explained. "Kibaou and his followers tried to block this dungeon off for themselves so they'd have exclusive use of it to obtain all the monster drop items they wanted. But the monsters in this dungeon proved to be too powerful for them to handle."

"This dungeon must be some sort of hidden level meant for the high-level players." Yugi deduced.

As they turned the next corner, the group encountered a large group of orange frog-like creatures. There were at least fifteen of the things in all.

Kirito stepped forward and drew his swords. "I'll handle this."

"You sure man?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, this many should be no problem." Kirito replied.

With that, Kirito charged at the hoard of frogs and began to attack. The others stood and watched he hacked and slashed the slimy creatures with his two blades.

"Are you all sure you're okay with your friend fighting on his own?" Yulier asked.

"Kirito will be fine." Asuna assured her. "Besides, he loves getting his battle on."

"Go Daddy!" Yui cheered.

Within a few moments, Kirito was done slaying the toad hoard. He sheathed his swords and walked back to the others without a scratch.

"Everything go okay?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah, it was no problem." Kirito answered. "And those toads dropped some pretty good items."

"Oh? What'd you get?" Asuna asked.

Kirito opened his menu screen, and after entering a few commands his arms became filled with dead toad legs. They looked as though they had been cut from the creatures he had just killed. A look of disgust quickly appeared on Asuna's face.

"I got a whole lot of Scavenger Toad meat!" Kirito enthusiastically told her as he displayed his catch. "I figured you could cook it up tonight for dinner."

"I am not cooking that!" Asuna declared.

"Alright! Way to go, Kirito!" Joey cheered. "I bet that toad meat cooks up real nice."

"Yeah, frog legs are supposed to be really good." Honda agreed. "Mind if the rest of us come over for dinner tonight?"

"I am not eating any of that stuff!" Anzu adamantly declared.

"C'mon Anzu, where's your sense of adventure?" Joey dared.

"You'll all have to find your adventure somewhere else." Asuna told them all as she took the toad meat from Kirito's arms and threw it into the water.

"NOOOO!" Joey and Honda cried out.

"Aww man!" an equally disappointed Kirito declared. "I bet that would've tasted great."

"Hey! Maybe we could find more of those toad things around here." Joey suggested.

"Yeah. I mean this is a dungeon. They're probably pretty common." Honda agreed.

"Have you guys forgotten why we're here?" Anzu cut in.

As a small but friendly argument broke out, Yugi chuckled and shook his head. A smile came to Yulier's face as she looked on as well.

Yui noticed Yulier's expression. "You're smiling."

"Huh?" Yulier responded. "Oh, I guess I am. I've never encountered players like them before."

After things calmed down, the group continued on through the dungeon. As they entered the final corridor they could see a white room all the way at the end. Kirito looked and saw that there was definitely someone inside the room.

"Looks like we've found him." Kirito informed the others.

Not wanting to wait a second longer, Yulier began to run towards the room. Standing near the doorway was a brown-haired man wearing a green cape and a greyish-brown military uniform.

"Thinker!" Yulier called as she neared the room.

"Yulier, stay back!" Thinker told her.

Before she could respond, a creature suddenly emerged from the shadows and attempted to attack her with a large scythe. Kirito quickly moved in and managed to block the attack. Afterwards, everyone got a good look at the creature. The thing was a female monster clad in what looked like a tattered Native American dress. Much of her body was wrapped in bandages, and brown rusty armor covered her upper torso and wrists. She had black angelic wings on her back, and her hair was brown and stringy. On the creature's face was a sinister white mask in red eyes. Six HP gauges appeared near the creature's head along with its name, Guardian Dreadscythe.

"Looks like we found the boss of this dungeon." Honda observed.

"Yulier, take Yui and get into the safe room with Thinker." Kirito told her. "You could be able to use a teleport crystal to get out."

"But Daddy…" Yui attempted to protest.

"Asuna, you go with them." Kirito told her. "The rest of us can handle this thing."

"I'm not leaving you!" Asuna declared. "And don't try to argue!"

Kirito gave a defeated sigh. "Fine, but be careful, okay?"

As soon as Yulier and Yui were safely in the white room, Joey drew his sword and hit Dreadscythe with a blade of flames. The attack did minimal damage and she counterattacked with a slash of her scythe. The blade struck all six of the fighters, knocking them to the ground and cutting their HP in half.

"That creature is incredibly strong." Yugi observed as he tried to get up.

"Yeah, it's probably as strong as the boss on floor ninety." Kirito assumed.

Suddenly in the split second that Yulier and Thinker teleported away, Yui ran back into the corridor. She got in between Dreadscythe and the others.

"Yui, run!" Asuna told her.

"Don't worry, Mommy. I'll be fine." Yui assured her.

Dreadscythe swung her blade down at Yui. But it hit and bounced off as if it struck stone. An icon with the words, Immortal Object, appeared above Yui's head.

"An Immortal Object?" a stunned Asuna spoke.

Suddenly Yui began to rise into the air. A large red sword with a blade covered in flames appeared in her right hand. With one swing, Yui sliced Dreadscythe in half and the flames burned the remains to ashes. The sword vanished and Yui floated back to the ground.

"Yui… what did you just do?" a shocked Kirito asked.

"I have finally recovered my memories." Yui explained. "We should probably discuss this in the safe area."

With that, the others followed Yui into the white room. Inside against the far wall was a large cube of what looked like black marble.

Yui sat on the cube and faced the others. "I'm very glad you're both safe, Kirito, Asuna."

"You were able to say our name." Kirito observed.

"Yui, you're not simply another player, are you?" Yugi calmly deduced, surprising Kirito and Asuna.

"You are correct." Yui confirmed. "Everything in MWO from monsters to items is regulated by a computer system called Cardinal. I am a part of that system. Mental Health-Counseling Program Prototype One, codename Yui."

"You mean… you're an AI?" Asuna realized.

"I was designed to emulate human emotion in order to put players at ease with me." Yui explained. "My intended function was to monitor and take care of the mental health of the players."

"So… you're like some kind of digital head shrink?" Joey asked as he scratched his head. "What the heck's something like that doing in an online fantasy game?"

"In case you haven't noticed dude, this game can be pretty stressful." Honda pointed out.

"Yeah, plus think about the people who probably started playing this game to try and deal with issues going on in their lives." Anzu added.

"You are both correct." Yui continued. "But for reasons I can't understand, I was forbidden to interact with the players when the game began. I was forced to watch as the players' emotional states began to deteriorate. Soon errors began to appear in my program."

"But something obviously changed." Yugi pointed out.

"For a long time I only saw players in states of rage and depression. That is until I saw Kirito and Asuna." Yui explained. "They seemed to enjoy themselves even though they're trapped in this game. I wanted to meet them. So somehow I was able to appear in the forest near their house on floor twenty-two."

"And that's where Asuna and I found you." Kirito finished.

Tears came to Yui's eyes. "I don't know how a program like me can think this way."

"You're no longer being controlled by the Cardinal System." Kirito pointed. "You can do whatever you want now. So what do you want, Yui?"

"I want… I want to stay with you… and Mommy, forever!" Yui told them before running over and hugging both Kirito and Asuna.

"Of course you can stay with us." Asuna told her as she and Kirito hugged her back.

"How touching." A horribly familiar voice sarcastically cut in. Everyone looked up to see a transparent image of Bakura hovering above the stone cube.

"What the hell do you want, you bastard?" Kirito demanded to know.

"Didn't you fools ever wonder how it is I can control this game?" Bakura asked them. "After I defeated Kayaba in a shadow game, I used the Millennium Ring to place a part of my spirit in the computer controlling this game, making it an extension of my being. In short, I am the Cardinal System!"

"Are you the reason why Yui was unable to interact with the players?" Yui asked.

"Who knows?" Bakura replied with a shrug. "Until just recently I didn't even know the girl existed. But she has violated the rules of this game. She used the control consul in this room to create a sword that erased Guaridan Dreadscythe from the game. As game master I cannot allow that. Therefore she must be punished!"

With that, Bakura extended his right arm and shot a bolt of red electricity at Yui. Asuna and Kirito were knocked back and Yui was pulled into the air. The girl screamed in pain as her feet suddenly began to dissolve into particles of golden light. And the whole time Bakura was laughing.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kirito demanded to know.

"I told you Kirito. Yui has to be punished." Bakura explained. "She's become a foreign program that's a danger to this system, which means she has to be deleted."

"I'm not going to let you have your way!" Kirito declared.

Kirito ran towards the black cube that was the control consul Bakura had mentioned. But he was repelled by a wall of red electricity and knocked backward. Bakura laughed again as he got back to his feet.

"You forget, Kirito, that I am the one in control this game." Bakura reminded him. "Once again you are powerless to save anyone. All you and Asuna can do is watch while I delete little Yui's program piece by piece."

"Yui!" Asuna cried out, watching in horror as the girl's body continued to dissolve.

"BAKURA!" Yugi shouted at the top of his lungs.

Bakura looked and saw that Yugi was glowing with a blue aura. The golden eye symbol of the Millennium Items was glowing on his forehead.

"What are you doing?" Bakura demanded to know.

"If you can use your Millennium Ring to control this game, than maybe I can use my Millennium Puzzle to fight you!" Yugi replied. Suddenly a beam of blue light shot from the puzzle towards Bakura.

"You dare to defy me?" Bakura responded as he fired a beam of red light from his Millennium Ring.

The two beams collided head on and began to push against one another. Neither one seemed to gain ground over the other.

"Kirito! I can't hold off Bakura for long!" Yugi told him. "You have only a few moments to save Yui!"

"Right!" Kirito responded before going up to the black cube.

As the two beams from the Millennium Items continued to clash, Kirito began to type furiously on the keyboard of the control consul. The entire time, the beams began to grow thicker. Suddenly Yui's body seemed to vanish completely.

"Got her!" Kirito spoke after hitting one final key.

Suddenly the two beams from Yugi and Bakura created a strange explosion in the middle of the room. In seconds the entire chamber was enveloped in a blinding white light.

* * *

_Kirito, Asuna, Yugi, and Bakura all found that they were flying through an endless tunnel of light. As they flew, several images began to appear before their eyes. They were all familiar images to Kirito. They saw the kingdom of Ancient Egypt when it was young. They saw the image of Yugi as Pharaoh and doubles of Kirito and Asuna as his two attendants, as well as the six people who wielded six of the Millennium Items. That second image began to play before them like a silent film._

_Entering the throne room was a man clad in red and wearing gold and jewels. Dragged behind him by a rope held in the stranger's hand was a dried-up mummy. He had long white hair and a large scar on his face. It was Bakura. The scene before them began to move faster and faster, and soon it was hard to tell what was going on. Then the four were hit by another wave of blinding light._

* * *

Kirito was flat on his back inside the white chamber with a small item clenched in his right hand. He was still overwhelmed by the images he had just seen and he was not alone. Yugi and Asuna were both stunned as well, but the one who seemed the most shocked was Bakura.

"Are you guys okay?" a concerned Anzu asked.

"That's… impossible!" Bakura declared.

"What was all that?" Asuna quietly wondered.

Bakura quickly regained his composure and glared at Yugi and the others. "This isn't over."

With that, the wicked game master vanished. Kirito sat up and slowly got back to his feet.

Asuna rushed over to Kirito's side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Kirito assured her as he opened his hand to reveal a tiny crystal pendant.

"What's that?" Asuna asked.

"I couldn't restore Yui's admin credentials, so the best I could do was save her as an item on my NerveGear's memory." Kirito explained. "This is… Yui's heart."

"That little necklace is Yui?" Anzu asked.

"Yeah." Kirito confirmed. "And hopefully we'll be able to recreate her in the real world one day."

"But how're you gonna do that? I mean she's a computer program." Joey pointed out. Anzu stomped hard on his right foot to shut him up.

"I don't know how, but we'll find a way." Kirito answered.

* * *

Bakura walked to the middle of his throne room with a scowl on his face. Those images he saw when the Millennium Ring and Puzzle reacted were the last images he expected to see. There were things about the ancient past that even he didn't seem to remember, and he had just found two big ones. Once in the center of the room, Bakura raised his arms and the Millennium Ring began to glow. Several holographic screens showing lines of code appeared around him.

"What are you doing?" Kayaba asked from his mirror.

"It seems Kirito and Asuna may play a bigger role in all this than I thought." Bakura answered. "If I'm going to obtain the ultimate power, I'm going to have to take a few precautions."

* * *

**Author's Note:** This ended up being kind of a fun chapter to do, partly because we got to see more interaction between our favorite SAO couple and Yugi's gang. The other reason was because of the Millennium Item fight between Yugi and Bakura. I had been looking forward to doing that scene for most of the story.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	19. Vow of the Pharaoh

**Author's Note:** It's been mentioned to me in a couple of the reviews for this story that there are similarities between Kaiba and Kayaba. I think I only made that connection subconsciously but started to realize it more and more as I worked on this story. They even have similar names. In fact there have been a few times where I've been afraid that I'd end up mixing their names up. Fortunately Kayaba's name doesn't register wrong on my spell check for some reason, so that helps me not make that mistake.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 18: Vow of the Pharaoh

It was the late afternoon of November fifth, 2024. The sun was already beginning to set. Kirito had spent much of the day by the lake fishing. Fishing was not Kirito's favorite sport, but there was very little else to do in the area. The downside to quiet and reclusive locations was that there was also very little activity. What made the activity even more boring was that Kirito had not gotten a bite on his line the whole time.

"Hi there." A voice suddenly greeted. "Mind if I join you?"

Kirito looked up and saw an older and somewhat overweight man standing to his right. He had on a straw hat and glasses. Kirito had seen the old man a few times before but thought that he was merely an NPC.

"Oh, go right ahead." Kirito replied.

"Thank you." The old man responded as he sat down next to him on the dock. "I've seen you around here a few times before. My name's Nishida, I'm a fisherman in this game. Though back in the real world I was an executive at Industrial Illusions."

"The company that made MWO?" a surprised Kirito asked.

"The very same." Nishida confirmed. "But this was certainly the last thing I expected to happen when I decided to try this game for myself. I don't think anybody at the company knew what Akihiko Kayaba was planning. Still, life in here hasn't been so bad. I only wish that I had a good soy sauce to go with the fish I catch."

"Actually, my wife makes a pretty good soy sauce." Kirito casually revealed.

Nishida looked at him with wide-eyed surprise. "What!"

With that, Kirito ended up inviting Nishida to have dinner with him and Asuna that evening. Nishida was quite impressed by the meal. Afterwards, Asuna gave the old fisherman a few bottles of her homemade soy sauce.

"You certainly found yourself a good cook, Kirito." Nishida remarked after the meal. "I only wish I could repay you both."

"Don't worry about it." Asuna told him. "It was nice having some company over."

"So have you been fishing at this lake for awhile Nishida?" Kirito asked.

"Ever since the players gained access to this floor." Nishida answered. "I've gotten pretty good at fishing. But there is one fish here that I haven't been able to catch. They there's a gigantic fish that lives at the very bottom of this lake. I can hook it with my fishing skill, but reeling it in is a whole other problem. I just don't have the strength to do it. Kirito… maybe you could help me catch it."

"What?" a somewhat surprised Kirito responded.

"I've heard that you're pretty strong." Nishida recalled. "I could hook it and you could reel it in. What do you say?"

"Well… I guess I could give it a try." Kirito agreed.

"Great!" Nishida enthusiastically replied as he got to his feet. "We'll try going for it a few days. There are a few people I want to tell about this first. This is going to be huge!"

* * *

Word of Nishida and Kirito's attempt to catch the giant fish of the lake quickly spread like wildfire. Within three days time, several people had gathered at the lake to watch them try to reel the creature in. It seemed to both Kirito and Asuna that every player living in the area had come. The only thing missing from the event was a brass band. Every one of the spectators cheered as Nishida walked to the lake's edge.

The crowd fell silent as the old fisherman cast his line into the water. The only thing anyone could do at that point was wait and watch. Suddenly something very large from below the water began to pull on the line, nearly dragging Nishida into the water. The old man had to struggle just to remain standing.

"Now Kirito!" Nishida called.

Kirito nodded and ran up to Nishida. He took the rod from Nishida's hands and began to pull with all his strength. Suddenly a huge object burst out of the water's surface and flew into the air. The thing landed with a thud right in front of Kirito, and quickly everyone saw that it was a giant orange lungfish with four stubby legs and bulging eyes. Everyone began to run as soon as they saw what the creature truly was. The fish charged at Kirito, but he managed to dodge the attack and run back to Asuna's side.

"You okay?" Asuna asked if nothing was wrong.

"You were going to let me die!" Kirito responded.

"Oh fine, I guess I'll handle this." Asuna decided.

With that, Asuna walked up to the creature and drew her sword. Everyone watched in horror as the lungfish prepared to attack her.

"Help your wife, Kirito!" Nishida told him.

"She's got this." Kirito assured him.

The giant lungfish charged full speed towards Asuna. But in what seemed like less of a second, Asuna charged at the beast and cut it in half with one slash of her sword, knocking her brown cloak off in the process. Everyone cheered Asuna for slaying the beast. But a second after it happened, Kirito suddenly was notified that he had gotten a private message from Yugi. Kirito read the message and his expression darkened a bit.

Asuna noticed the change in Kirito's face and walked up to him after making her way through the crowd of fans. "What is it?"

"It's a message from Yugi." Kirito answered. "He says he wants us to meet up with him and the others tomorrow… at the Knights of the Blood Oath headquarters."

"Why does he want us to meet up there?" Asuna wondered.

"No clue." Kirito answered. "All he said is that it's important."

"I guess our little vacation is over then, huh?" Asuna assumed.

"Yeah, looks like it." Kirito agreed.

The following morning, Kirito and Asuna got ready to leave for the fifty-fifth floor. Nishida had come to say his goodbyes before the left.

"It's too bad that you have to leave, but I guess you have a job to do." Nishida told them.

"Yeah, this game isn't going to clear itself." Kirito pointed out.

"You know lately I've been wondering if I'll ever be able to return to my old life in the real world." Nishida admitted. "It's been about two years since this whole thing started. Maybe my life here as a fisherman isn't all that bad, considering the circumstances. For all I know, this is the best thing that could've happened to me."

"I used to think the same way." Asuna revealed. "When the game began I used to cry all alone at night, thinking that every day I spent here was a stolen from me in the real world. I'd cry, then I'd go out and fight as hard as I could. My only thought was winning and getting stronger. Then one day I ran across Kirito lounging under a tree. He told it that it was Aincrad's best season and that I should take the time to enjoy it. For the first time after that I let myself relax.

"Then Kirito and I started spending more time together. And the more we partied together I saw that he wasn't losing a day in the real world. He was gaining a day here. For the first time since I got trapped here I was happy. I don't know why I put on the NerveGear that day, but maybe it was because so I could meet Kirito. To me, he's the proof that I'm still alive. So you don't give up hope, okay Nishida?"

"Yeah… you're right! There might still be hope." Nishida agreed. "Maybe I can get back to the real world one day. Well, until then you two take care of each other."

"We'll try and be back soon." Kirito assured him, and with that he and Asuna teleported off.

Within a few minutes, the couple arrived at the castle gates of the Knights of the Blood Oath headquarters. Yugi and the others were waiting for them in the doorway.

"Hey guys." Joey greeted. "Sorry to spoil your little honeymoon like this."

"Yugi said it was important." Kirito replied. "And I'm guessing it has something to do with the dungeon on floor seventy-five."

Yugi nodded. "Kaiba has been contacting all of the strongest guilds in the game, asking them to come here. The only reason he would do that would be to try and rally an attack force strong enough to defeat the boss of the next dungeon."

"I thought so." Kirito responded. "We're probably going to be in for a pretty rough battle. The bosses of the quarter floors are supposed to be the strongest."

"Well we're not going to find out fore sure what this is about standing around out here." Honda pointed out. "Let's just go in and see what this is all about."

The six of them went into the castle and headed for Kaiba's office. Kaiba was sitting at his desk. The arm he had lost during his duel with Yugi had been restored.

Upon noticing Kirito and Asuna, Kaiba chuckled a bit. "Well Yugi, I see you let those two rejects from my guild join your little group. I guess you need all the help you can get, considering the rest of the trash you have with it."

"Why you…!" Joey began to curse.

"Kaiba, my friends and I came like you asked!" Yugi told him as he crossed his arms. "Now tells us why we're here!"

"Fine, I'll get to the point." Kaiba replied. "Recently a squadron made up of twenty of my best soldiers found the boss room on the seventy-fifth floor. According to the report, the room looked empty from the outside. But as soon as ten of them stepped inside, the doors slammed shut. When the doors reopened, the room was empty. There was no trace of my men or the boss."

"Could those players have teleported out?" Anzu asked.

"Don't be so naïve." Kaiba told her. "Those ten players are dead. Clearly the boss room of that dungeon has an anti-teleport trap like the boss room on floor seventy-four. All the other boss rooms on the higher floors probably have that feature."

"So whatever's in that room is fast and can sneak up on any player that walks in." Honda observed. "That's just great."

Kaiba stood up from his desk. "I've already started gathering together the attack force needed to clear the dungeon. So far everyone I've contacted has agreed to take part. But I still need all the help I can get."

"Very well, Kaiba. We'll help you in this raid." Yugi agreed.

"You, Kirito, and Asuna should give the raiding party at least a little more fighting power." Kaiba responded as a sneer came to his face. "As for the rest of your friends, I'm sure they'd make good cannon fodder to distract the boss if we need to. We begin the operation in one hour. In the meantime, I suggest you all wait here at the castle. You'll be informed when it's time to move out." With that, Kaiba left the office.

"Why that big…!" an offended Joey spoke. "I'll show him whose cannon fodder!"

"So what do we do now?" Anzu asked.

"We should take this time to rest and prepare." Yugi suggested. "We'll need to be at our best for this fight."

"If you guys don't mind, I think Asuna and I would like to wait somewhere alone." Kirito told them.

"Don't mind us." Anzu told them. "You two just take all the time you need."

Kirito and Asuna left the office together and went to one of the castle's sitting rooms. They waited in silence for several minutes. Both of them were a little too tense to speak. One thing that Kirito and Asuna had both learned during their time on MWO was that the waiting before a big battle was one of the hardest parts. It prolonged the tension, the worrying about whether or not they would come back from that battle alive. Very often that was worse than anything else.

After a bit, Asuna noticed that there was only twenty minutes left. "It's almost time."

"Asuna, I… I don't want you to fight anymore." Kirito suddenly told her.

"What?" Asuna responded.

"Let's just run away together." Kirito spoke as he turned to the window. "We can go back to our little house in the woods and leave all this behind."

Asuna walked over and hugged Kirito from behind. "We can't. You know I'd love to… but we just can't do that. Haven't you ever wondered what's happening to our bodies in the real world? How long do you think we can last just being kept alive by machines?"

"So in other words… there's a time limit to how long we can survive." Kirito realized. "Whether we clear the game or not."

"I… I want us to go on real dates, and to really get married!" Asuna told him as tears came to her eyes. "I want us to grow old together."

Kirito turned around in Asuna's arms. "I guess I'm losing my nerve, huh? Maybe we've been at this too long."

"There's no way around it." Asuna replied. "We have to fight so we can get out of here. No matter what happens, I'll protect you."

"Same here." Kirito replied. With that, the two of them shared a deep kiss.

* * *

Yugi had unwittingly overheard Kirito and Asuna's entire conversation from the doorway while coming to check on them. He was moved by what he had just seen and quietly left without disturbing them. Yugi made his way out to one of the training fields of the castle to be alone. Angrily he slammed his fist into one of the walls of stone and shouted Bakura's name at the sky.

The normal Yugi appeared next to him in spirit form. _"Other me, are you okay?"_

"Kirito… Asuna… Yui… our friends." The Pharaoh spoke. "Every player in this game has suffered greatly or died… all because Bakura is using this game to try and get to me."

_"That's not your fault."_ The normal Yugi told him. _"The spirit of Bakura's ring is to blame for all of this."_

"Their blood is still on my hands." The Pharaoh argued. "This battle is between me and Bakura. Nobody was supposed to get caught in the crossfire. I may not be able to bring back those who have already been lost, but this I vow here and now, Partner. One way or another, I will get Kirito and Asuna out of this game alive!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** One thing that occurred to me while planing this story is that this is the first time Yugi and his friends have been involved in a game like this with so many other people. In the past, Yami Yugi (Atem) was always able to protect everyone. But there are too many people for him to protect this time, and even though there are so many other players He's still Bakura's target. I figured that kind of thing would take its toll on the Pharaoh after such a long amount of time.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	20. The Pharaoh's Servant

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 19: The Pharaoh's Servant

The time of the dungeon raid on floor seventy-five had finally come. Almost every high-level player in the game had gathered at the main town. This of course included Kirito and the rest of the Warriors of Unity guild. The fighting force was quite large, but they waited for just a few more players to show up. It was only a matter of minutes before the attack would finally begin.

"Man, Kaiba sure is taking his sweet time getting here." Joey impatiently remarked. "Let's just get on with this already!"

"Patience, Joey." Yugi calmly told him. "I'm sure Kaiba's only waiting for everyone to get here. Moving too soon would prove costly."

"Yugi's right." Kirito agreed. "If we're going to beat this boss, than we're going to need all the strong players we can get."

"Hey guys." A familiar voice greeted. The others looked and saw Klein with Agil and the rest of Fuurinkazan.

"You guys showed up for this too, huh?" Kirito observed.

"All the powerhouses are showing up for this one." Agil replied. "This looks it's gonna be the biggest boss fight yet."

"We're happy to have your help." Yugi told them. "All that's left now is for Kaiba to show up."

As if on cue, Kaiba finally arrived flanked by four of his lieutenants. They stopped in the middle of the gathering and Kaiba took a quick look around at the players.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Kaiba decided. "Move out!"

With that, Kaiba led the way to the main dungeon on the seventy-fifth floor. Before long everyone was walking through the dark corridors of the dungeon. The tension among the players was heavy as they made their way to the boss room. Everyone knew that there was a good chance that at least a few of them would not be coming back alive. The raiding party encountered no monsters as they neared the room, which made things seem even more ominous.

"I sure wish I could summon my Red-Eyes to battle this boss." Joey quietly remarked.

"You're not the only one." Asuna agreed. "Besides Kirito's Winged Dragon of Ra, high-level dragons like your Red-Eyes and Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon can't be summoned in dungeons."

"With or without dragons, I'm sure we can beat whatever's in that room." Honda confidently declared.

Up ahead, Yugi and Kaiba were walking almost side by side near the front of the attack force. As they marched, Kaiba glanced back at Kirito and the other members of Yugi's guild.

"I have to admit, Yugi. Kirito and Asuna do seem to be a much better fit for your guild." Kaiba remarked.

"You're not sore about me taking them from you, are you Kaiba?" Yugi asked.

"Not at all." Kaiba answered with a small smirk. "Actually I think having them as members of my guild would've been a waste of time. Especially Asuna. I don't know what happened to her during those few months, whatever it is seems to have caused her to lose her edge."

"That's because she's gained something far greater." Yugi argued.

As the two of them walked past a corridor, Yugi heard a growling noise that caused him to pause. Emerging from the darkness was a four-legged creature with two head and a body covered in blue fur. Dark-blue armor with gold trim and orange gems adorned its torso and upper legs. The creature's right head resembled a dog, while its left looked like the head of a lion. The name that appeared briefly above the creature identified it as Mythical Beast Cerberus.

Cerberus leapt through the air at Yugi to pin him to the ground. But before the dog-like creature could strike, Asuna charged in with incredible speed and destroyed the beast with several strikes of her sword.

"Are you okay Yugi?" Asuna asked.

"I'm fine." Yugi assured her. "Thank you."

"Well, it looks like her skills haven't dulled at least." Kaiba remarked. "Now let's get going."

"Hey Yugi, it looks like I got a drop item from that monster." Asuna informed him. "It's called the Amulet of Dark Magic and according to the description it looks like it can boost the power of dark magical attacks. Since it's nothing I can use, I'm putting it in the guild's shared storage. I thought maybe you could use it."

"Thank you, Asuna. I'm sure this will be of great help." Yugi told her as he accessed his menu screen.

In moments, a gold medallion appeared around Yugi's neck in addition to his Millennium Puzzle. On the front the amulet was a large cut purple gemstone.

"Everything okay up here?" Kirito asked as he approached.

"We're fine." Yugi assured him. "Now let's go. We shouldn't keep the others waiting."

After a few more minutes of walking, the party finally reached the massive doors to the boss room. Everyone waited for a few moments as they tried to mentally prepare themselves for the battle that was about to begin. Kirito especially was nervous about what was behind that door.

Suddenly Asuna wrapped her arms around Kirito from behind and leaned close to his ear. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

At last, Kaiba opened the doors to the room and everyone stepped inside. The interior of the massive chamber was almost pitch-black, making it even more imposing. Once everyone was inside the room, the massive doors slammed shut behind them. The room became filled with an eerie red light. A few of the players looked up, and sticking to the ceiling they saw an immense skeletal creature with a body like a centipede's. Its head was a demonic skull with four glowing red eyes, and its two arms each had a large scythe blade attached. Five HP gauges appeared by the creature's name, along with its name, the Skull Reaper.

The monster jumped down to the floor with a massive crash. In less then a second it slashed two of the players with one of its scythe blades, dropping their HP to zero in one hit. Their bodies shattered into polygons. Most of the others players stood frozen for a moment in shock. They could believe that they were facing a monster that could destroy high-level fighters in one hit.

"Don't just stand there, you idiots!" Kaiba told them. "If you all want to survive, then fight that thing! Yugi, you and those two lovebirds of yours work with me to attack this monster from the front! Everyone else, go after it from the sides!"

The other players quickly got over the fear and charged at the demonic skeleton. Most of the others players attacked the creature from the sides, causing its first HP gauge to drop slightly. But the Skull Reaper simply knocked them away with swings from its body, knocking the players into the walls and causing their HP to drop down to more than half. At the same time, Kaiba blasted the creature in the face with an energy attack from his sword. Yugi joined in with a bolt of black energy from his wand. The demon quickly recovered and slashed at the two guild leaders, only for Yugi to barely block the attack with a magical barrier.

While Yugi was able to block the first scythe blade, the second broke through and knocked Kaiba and Yugi back, knocking off a good chunk of their HP. Kaiba was knocked out, forcing Kirito and Asuna to move in. The couple began slashing the demon in the face as the other players continued to assault it from the sides. Within moments Asuna and Kirito managed to bring the Skull Reaper's first HP gauge down past the half way mark. But soon after, the creature knocked them away with one of its scythe blades, knocking them into the wall. Their HP had fallen dangerously close to the red zone.

"We're not gonna last much longer at this rate." Kirito observed. "There's no choice. I'm going to use Ra."

"But if you use Ra with this much damage…" Asuna began to argue.

"If I don't we're both as good as dead!" Kirito told her. "At least this way, you'll still be able to get out alive."

"But Kirito…!" Asuna responded.

Before Asuna could finish her thought, the Skull Reaper moved in and tried to slash the couple to ribbons. Suddenly Yugi moved in and blocked the first blade with a magical barrier. The second blade broke through the barrier, shattering it like glass and knocking Yugi backwards at the same time. Yugi's HP had fallen into the red.

"Kirito! Asuna! Fall back!" Yugi ordered. "I'll fight this creature on my own!"

"Are you crazy!" Kirito responded. "You can't take this on by yourself! Let me handle this!"

"Kirito, I made a vow get you and Asuna out of this game alive!" Yugi told them. "Which means I can't allow you to sacrifice yourself!"

"But if you fight that thing on your own, you'll die!" Kirito argued.

"Maybe… but if that's what it takes to protect you, then so be it!" Yugi declared. "I'm not going to let any of my friends die!"

The Skull Reaper growled and raised its scythe blades for another attack. Yugi raised his wand to try and counter. Meanwhile it seemed like all Kirito and Asuna could so was watch. Joey, Anzu, Honda, and Kaiba all noticed what Yugi was attempting to do. Joey and Anzu tried to charge in to help, but they were too far away.

_'Pharaoh, my soul is your eternal servant.'_ A voice suddenly spoke in Yugi's head.

At the last second, a blinding purple light shot out of Yugi's amulet, repelling the Skull Reaper back. In moments the light took on the form of a man wearing a purple conical hat that curved forward with purple robes and armor. In his right hand he carried a long green staff with a green gem mounted in the top.

"What's going on?" an awestruck Asuna wondered.

"That amulet… it's a summoning item like the sphere used to summon Ra." Kirito realized. "It summoned an NPC to help Yugi in battle."

"No way…" an amazed Joey spoke. "It's…"

"The Dark Magician." Kaiba finished.

"I activate one of the Dark Magician's special abilities in this game!" Yugi announced. "By him with my magical energy, I can raise the power of his attack stat!"

With that, Yugi raised his wand and specks of purple light began to flow from the tip into the back of Dark Magician. Meanwhile as Anzu watched, a holographic screen appeared before her that revealed something about the NPC helping Yugi.

"Hey! Anyone who's a magic user! Put all the magical energy you have left towards powering up Dark Magician!" Anzu called. "Don't ask me how I know, but he can be powered up by any spellcaster in the area! So give him everything you've got!"

With that, Anzu and the remaining magic users in the raiding party began sending streams of energy towards the Dark Magician. In moments the magician began glowing with a bright purple aura.

"Dark Magician! Obliterate the Skull Reaper!" Yugi commanded. "Dark Magic Attack!"

Just as the Skull Reaper recovered from the wizard's sudden appearance, Dark Magician raised his staff forward and blasted the demon with a massive storm of crackling black energy. In an instant, the demon's remaining HP gauges dropped to zero. Its eyes went dark and its skeletal body broke apart before the individual bones shattered into polygons. With the creature dead, the room went dark and the gateway on the far wall opened up. Dark Magician turned to Yugi and nodded before vanishing. Meanwhile, the other players looked at Yugi with awe.

"That… was nuts!" Klein declared.

"He just took out one of the toughest bosses in the game with one hit." Agil added.

After a few moments, most of the other players began to cheer. A few of them even began to surround Yugi, Kirito, and Asuna.

"Enough!" Kaiba interrupted as he hit the wall with the side of his fist. "You can all celebrate later! Right now let's just activate the gate to the next floor and get out of here!"

With that, the players put aside their need to celebrate for a few moments and activated the gate that unlocked the next floor of the game. The celebration continued though once everyone had arrived in the main town on floor seventy-six. Yugi and the others had managed to find a quite corner of the town where they could get away from everyone for a bit.

"What the hell were you thinking with that heroic act back there?" Asuna asked Yugi. "That was probably one of the dumbest things I've ever seen!"

"I agree with Asuna." An equally upset Anzu interjected. "If the Dark Magician hadn't shown up like that, you could've died!"

"I'm sorry." Yugi told everyone.

"Well, I guess the important thing is that we were able to beat that boss." Honda pointed out. "Now we're one floor closer to finally getting out of this game."

"That's right." Yugi agreed as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "For now, we should take some time and rest. Kirito, you and Asuna go back to your house on floor twenty-two. We'll contact you again when we need you."

"Are you okay?" Kirito asked.

"I'm fine." Yugi assured him. "I just need to rest for a bit."

Suddenly Yugi became bathed in a gold light emanating from his Millennium Puzzle. In seconds Yugi's normal self had emerged.

"Hey man, is the other Yugi okay?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, but I think this game is starting to wear him out." Yugi replied. "He'll be fine once he gets some rest though."

"I guess even the other Yugi would be tired out by this game after awhile." Anzu admitted. "Let's just take the rest of the day off. Kirito, Asuna, we'll see you two later."

* * *

Night had fallen, and Kirito and Asuna had since returned to their little cottage on floor twenty-two. After eating dinner, the two of them cuddled up together on the couch. They were both still mentally worn out from the battle with the Skull Reaper.

"So I guess even Yugi's other self has his limits." Asuna remarked.

"Yeah, but we probably wouldn't have made it out of there if it wasn't for him." Kirito pointed out.

"Hey Kirito, this may sound weird. But did the Dark Magician's face look, I don't know… familiar to you?" Asuna asked.

"You know, he kind of did now that I think about it." Kirito agreed. "But there's something even weirder about the Dark Magician. It seemed a little odd that we'd end up with the item that summons him from a random monster drop right when we were about to fight the boss."

"Like it was too convenient?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah. In fact it was almost like the time you got that cursed ring that messed with your head." Kirito recalled.

"But then… does that mean Bakura might be behind us getting that item?" Asuna realized.

"Well… it doesn't really seem like something he would do." Kirito answered. "I mean why would he give us an item that summons an NPC that strong? Then again he could be messing with us again somehow. I don't know."

"Let's worry about this later." Asuna told him as she relaxed again. "I'm a little too tired to think right now."

"Yeah, your right." Kirito agreed, and with that they both dozed off.

* * *

Bakura sat scowling atop his throne in the Ruby Palace. Before him was a holographic screen that replayed the Dark Magician destroying the Skull Reaper over and over again. After a few moments he caused the screen to vanish with a wave of his arm.

"How could this have happened?" Bakura wondered. "In this game, the Dark Magician's power rivals that of the boss monsters of the final ten floors. How could he have gotten his hands on the item that summons him?"

"It is rather convenient, isn't it?" Kayaba remarked from his mirror.

Bakura glared back at the game creator. "Did you have something to do with this?"

"I don't know what you mean." Kayaba innocently replied. "I'm only your prisoner, like all the other players in this game. What could I have done?"

Bakura backed down and leaned back in his throne. "I suppose it doesn't matter. Let Yugi and the others come. In the end, nothing they do will help them to beat me."

* * *

**Author's Note:** One vision I had during the planing stages of this story was that of Dark Magician destroying the Skull Reaper in one hit. The problem I had though was figuring out how to integrate more human-like monsters like the Dark Magician into the story. Thanks to part of that solution goes to a friend of mine on this site, Roxy Fan 4 Ever. We were talking about how some of the more human like monsters could appear in the game in rolls such as NPC shop owners. While I couldn't quite work that in, it did occur to me that the Dark Magician could be a kind of special NPC summoned by a specific item. Sort of like the celestial keys in _Fairy Tail_ (anyone familiar with that series?).

Anyway, this is the point on the SAO anime when the game was cleared. Obviously things have taken a much different turn in this story. But we are getting closer to the end. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


	21. To the Final Gate

**Author's Note:** I've gotten a couple of reviews for this story asking if the other two Egyptian God monsters are going to show up in this story. I'm afraid the answer to that question is no. I thought about having them show up, but I just couldn't figure out a way to work them in. So sorry about that.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 20: To the Final Gate

Very soon after the defeat of the Skull Reaper, word of Yugi's astounding victory had quickly spread throughout all of Aincrad. Those players who had resigned themselves to spending the rest of their days within the game had found new hope of returning to their former lives. That hope seemed to bring a new energy to the game, and in the days that followed the players began to clear the remaining floors faster than before. Kaiba had managed to temporarily put aside his differences with Yugi and form an alliance with him, and the two spearheaded the campaign to finally escape the game. Many hard battles were fought, but in a matter of only a few months only two floors in the game had yet to be cleared.

Kirito and Asuna continued to fight on the front lines during that time. The two of them had both been instrumental in many of the boss battles. By day they would continue to raise their levels and work towards clearing the game, and by night they would spend their time at their little house on the twenty-second floor. It was those nights that gave them a release valve and allowed them to rest and take comfort in one another. And as the campaign to clear the game continued, they both knew that the hardest battle of them all was still on the horizon.

On the evening of April thirteenth, 2025, Kirito and Asuna were relaxing and watching the sun set over the lake. It was a beautiful sight, regardless of being an artificial one, and it was a sight that both Kirito and Asuna continued to enjoy. Suddenly the peaceful silence was interrupted by a knock on the door. Kirito walked over to answer and opened the door to find Yugi and the others standing on the other side. They were all dressed in civilian attire, but all of them had serious expressions on their faces.

"Hello Kirito." Yugi greeted. "Sorry for visiting so late, but we have something important to discuss. Mind if we come in?"

"Sure, come in and sit down." Kirito replied as he stepped aside to allow them entry.

Yugi and the others sat in the available chairs while Asuna and Kirito sat together on the couch. There was a brief pause for a moment as Kirito and Asuna looked at Yugi. They could both tell that he had something big to tell them.

"So what's happened?" Kirito finally asked.

"We all thought that you should learn this news in person." Yugi replied. "The boss room of the ninety-ninth floor dungeon has finally been located."

"So… that means the fight to clear that floor will begin soon." Asuna realized.

"Do we know what kind of boss we're up against?" Kirito asked.

"Nobody has attempted to go inside yet." Yugi answered. "Whatever creature is behind those doors, it's the most powerful boss we've faced yet. It's too dangerous to risk sending in a scouting party."

"Besides, nobody's real anxious to find out what comes after a boss like the one on floor ninety-eight, the Gate Guardian." Honda pointed out.

"That was a real nasty battle." Joey recalled. "We lost fifty guys on that one."

"Whatever the boss in that room is, there's another reason why nobody has attempted going in yet." Yugi continued. "That reason is the floor that lies beyond floor ninety-nine."

"The Ruby Palace." Kirito responded.

"So you do know of it." Yugi observed.

"Only from stuff I heard during the beta test." Kirito told him. "I never actually made it up to that floor."

"What's the Ruby Palace?" Asuna asked.

"It's the final dungeon, and the only thing that exists on floor one-hundred." Kirito answered. "There aren't any towns or villages around it. The only things there are more monsters and the final boss of this game."

"Then clearing the ninety-ninth floor means the start of the final battle." Asuna realized. "It's finally beginning."

"One big problem is that we don't know anything more about the final boss than we know about the boss on floor ninety-nine." Kirito pointed out.

"That's another one of the reasons why we're here." Anzu informed them. "We think we may have an idea about what the final boss will be like."

"Bakura is the one controlling this game, which means he'll most likely be the final opponent." Yugi continued. "Meaning he'll be acting as the final boss himself."

"This won't be anything like the time I fought that NPC double of his, will it?" Kirito assumed.

"No, I'm sure it will be far worse." Yugi confirmed. "This is not the first time my friends and I have fought against Bakura in an RPG. Our first battle with him was in the tabletop version of Monster World. It was also the first time we met Bakura. Back then we had no idea about his Millennium Ring or the evil personality that existed inside it. By the time we found out, we had already fallen into his trap."

"You were trapped inside an old tabletop RPG?" Asuna asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I can understand how you can get trapped in a virtual RPG like MWO, but how do you get trapped in a tabletop game?" Kirito asked.

"With the power of Bakura's Millennium Ring." Yugi explained. "He used that power to trap the souls of my partner and friends within the lead miniatures that represented our characters, leaving me to roll the dice in their place. What Akihiko Kayaba had planned to do with the technology of this game, Bakura had done using an ancient and powerful magic."

"As interesting as this story is, what does it have to do with the final boss?" Asuna asked.

"Bakura's avatar in that game was a demon called Dark Master Zorc." Yugi answered. "I imagine that his avatar in this game will be based on that creature."

"But an old tabletop game is a lot different than a virtual MMO." Kirito pointed out. "Even if you're right about this Zorc being the final boss, fighting him probably won't be anything like your last battle with him."

"No. In fact I'm sure it will be a lot more difficult." Yugi agreed.

"So when does the attack begin?" Asuna asked.

"Kaiba has insisted that we begin the raid first thing in the morning." Yugi revealed. "All of the strongest players in the game have already started to gather together."

"Then this is it." Kirito realized. "Tomorrow we either get out of the game or die trying."

"You should both get plenty of rest before tomorrow." Yugi told them. "The raid will begin at 6:30 sharp."

"We'll be ready." Kirito assured them.

"There's another reason why we dropped by." Anzu revealed. "We stopped by Lisbeth's on the way here."

"Kirito and I haven't visited Liz in awhile." Asuna admitted. "How's she doing?"

"She's busy, but she's doing pretty well." Anzu answered. "And you know that alchemy skill that she developed about two and a half months ago? She says she's finally mastered it. Which means she can now make enchanted weapons."

"Yeah, she's already re-forged my enchanted flame sword." Joey enthusiastically revealed as he got to his feet. "Check it out!"

After selecting a few commands in his menu screen, a large sword appeared in Joey's hand. It looked like his old enchanted flame sword only it was blue.

"Say hello to my Sword of Blue Fames!" Joey continued as he displayed his weapon. "Want me to show you guys what it can do?"

"And burn down our house?" Asuna responded as she crossed her arms.

"Oh… yeah. Good point." Joey replied as he put away his sword and sat back down.

"Idiot." Anzu quietly remarked.

"Much of Lisbeth's energy has gone into making these." Yugi interjected as he brought up his menu screen. "Behold."

Two golden swords suddenly materialized on the coffee table. Each one had a handle that had the head of a falcon carved on the end. One of the swords had two red gems mounted into the crossguard, while the other two green gems.

"Are these for me?" Kirito asked as he picked up one of the blades.

"She put all of her energy making them for you." Yugi confirmed. "They are called Luminous and Corona, the Twin Swords of Light. Lisbeth said that they're the strongest swords she's made yet."

"I'll have to thank Lisbeth for making these for me." Kirito decided. "Thanks for bringing these."

"It was no problem." Yugi replied. "We'll leave you two alone now to get some rest. Tomorrow will be a big day."

With that, Yugi and the others said their goodbyes and left the house. In a few more hours, night had fallen and Kirito and Asuna had gone to bed. But both of them were finding it very hard to get to sleep.

"I just realized…this is probably be the last night either of us spends in this house." Asuna spoke as Kirito held her in his arms.

"Yeah. Whatever happens tomorrow, this is all going to end." Kirito replied.

"Well whatever happens Kirito, I want you to know now that even with all the battles… these last few months have been some of the happiest times in my life." Asuna told him.

"I feel the same way." Kirito responded. "Let's both get out of this alive tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." Asuna agreed before kissing him on the cheek. With that, they both closed their eyes and finally managed to get to sleep.

The morning came, and all of the strongest players gathered on the ninety-ninth floor, including Klein and Agil. There were seventy players in all in the raiding party. As soon as everyone showed up, the raiding party made its way into the dungeon and headed for the boss room. Once they stopped at the doors, Yugi and Kaiba stood before the assembled troops to say a few words.

"I'm only going to say this to you all once." Kaiba began. "This boss room is only the beginning. Once we defeat whatever's in this next room, we're heading straight for the floor above to beat the final boss."

"We'll all take a few moments to heal ourselves." Yugi added. "But after that, the final battle is going to begin."

"There's a good chance that some of you won't be coming out of this next fight alive." Kaiba continued. "If that happens, you'll have nothing to blame but your own weakness."

"Whatever happens, as long as we work together we can clear this game and finally put an end to this world." Yugi concluded. "So fight hard, and together we'll win!"

Most of the other players gave a cheer as Yugi ended the speech. With that, Yugi and Kaiba turned around to open the doors. On the other side was a massive round chamber with golden walls. Lining the walls around the room were five pedestals, each with a strange black ceramic urn on top. Painted on the front of the urn on the far side of the wall in gold was a symbol that looked like a face. Two of the other urns had the symbol of a hand painted on the front in gold, while the remaining two had the symbol of a foot.

As soon as everyone entered the room, the doors slammed shut behind them and chamber darkened. A pillar of green flames appeared in the room. Soon the flames subsided to reveal a giant humanoid monster with pitch-black skin and a muscular body. Its massive neck had thick ridges that made the creature look as if it was wearing an Egyptian headdress, and on its chin was the kind of ornamental beard worn by the ancient pharaohs. The symbol of an ankh adorned its chest, and on its wrists and ankles were black shackles with thick black broken chains. Eight HP gauges appeared by the creature's head along with its name, Exodia Necross. Yugi, Kaiba, Joey, and a few of the other players in the raiding party went pale upon seeing the giant.

"No way… those stupid game designers actually made Exodia the second to last boss?" a horrified Joey asked.

Suddenly the giant raised his hands forward and brought them together. A ball of red flames began to form between its plams.

"Barriers, quickly!" Yugi ordered.

Every player capable of magic created a massive transparent barrier in front of the entire party. Exodia blasted them with a massive stream of flames. The barrier somehow managed to hold, but ten of the players near the front were destroyed in one hit.

"Now! Hit it before it attacks again!" Kaiba commanded. "Use magical and projectile attacks only! Anything else will only get us killed quicker!"

Yugi, Anzu, and all the other magic users in the raiding party began launching streams of magical energy against the giant. At the same time, Honda and all the other players using guns and cannons shot everything they had at the creature. Joey swung his sword and hit the giant in the face with a blade of blue flames. All of the attacks caused Exodia's first HP gauge to drop slightly, but in less than a second it rose back up to a hundred percent. Exodia then stomped his right foot on the ground, causing the entire chamber to shake. All of the players were knocked off their feet.

As everyone attempted to get back up, the giant brought his hands back together to create another fireball. The players barely managed to raise another barrier before Exodia launched his second attack. By the time it ended, six more players had died.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Kaiba told the others. "Exodia's HP regenerates too fast for us to do any significant damage."

"Does this mean that there's no way for us to win?" Anzu wondered. "Is this it for all of us?"

"There has to be a way!" Yugi declared. "There must be some kind of clue on how to defeat Exodia!"

Kirito looked around the room and spotted one of the urns that bore the symbol of a foot near the door they had come through. He ran over and drew his swords. With a cry, he swung the gold sword in his right hand as hard as he could into the urn, but a barrier of blue light repelled the blade.

"Kirito, what are you doing?" Asuna asked.

"I don't know why, but I thought breaking one of these urns might do something." Kirito explained as the other players tried holding off Exodia. "But it looks like I was wrong."

Yugi looked around the room and noticed the other four jars. "That's it! In the game of Duel Monsters, Exodia is a creature that can only be summoned with five separate cards, each depicting a piece of the monster. These five urns might represent those five pieces, which means if we can break them we might be able to somehow weaken Exodia."

"But Kirito already tried breaking one of the urns!" Joey pointed out. "The thing was protected by some kind of barrier!"

"What if… what if we have to break all five of the urns at once?" Asuna suggested.

"You mean at the same time?" Kirito asked.

"It's worth a shot." Agil pointed out. "It's certainly a hell of a lot better than just standing around and getting creamed."

"Kirito! Asuna! Agil! Klein! Joey! The five of you go break the jars!" Yugi ordered. "The rest of us will try and hold off Exodia for as long as we can!"

The five nodded and proceeded towards the urns around the room. Klein and Agil waited by the urns depicting the feet, while Joey and Asuna headed for the two depicting the hands. Kirito ran at full speed towards the urn on the far side of the room depicting the face. As he came near, Exodia stomped his foot again, causing everyone to tumble over. Kirito quickly got back to his feet and continued towards the final urn. At the same time, Exodia launched another attack that managed to take out another fifteen players. After the attack ended, Kirito stood before the final urn and raised his sword.

"On three!" Kirito called to the others. "One… two… three!"

Kirito and the others swung their weapons down on the urns as hard as they could. All five of the ceramic containers shattered and grey ash poured out of them. The pedestals that once supported the urns suddenly retracted into the floor. At the same time, Exodia's body suddenly turned brown and transparent. The rest of the players renewed their attacks and the giant's HP actually began to drop.

"That's it! Don't stop until that thing is dead!" Kaiba ordered.

As the rest of the raiding party continued their attacks from the front, Kirito turned to face the creature from the back. The blades of both his swords began to glow with a magnificent golden light. He charged at Exodia and began chanting sometime under his breath. As Kirito leapt towards the creature, Ra appeared in his phoenix form and covered his body in golden flames. Kirito slashed through the center of Exodia's torso and came out through the other side, leaving an X-shaped cut of golden light. Kirito landed on the ground on one knee and the flames covering his body subsided. Exodia dropped to his knees and was left with only two and a half HP gauges.

"Come forth, Dark Magician!" Yugi called.

A beam of purple light shot out of Yugi's amulet and took the form of the legendary wizard. Yugi and the other magic users left began sending streams of magic into the Dark Magician's body, causing him to glow with a purple aura.

"Dark Magician, obliterate Exodia!" Yugi commanded. "Dark Magic Attack!"

Dark Magician hit Exodia with a blast of crackling black energy. In moments the giant's remaining HP dropped to nothing and his body shattered into polygons. With the giant destroyed, the lights in the chamber came back up and the far wall opened to reveal the final gate. With his task done, the Dark Magician vanished. The players that remained took a moment to recover.

"We actually did it." Kirito observed as he rose back to his feet.

"Man! That was a close one." Agil declared as he slumped against the wall.

"Anyone with healing crystals or magic, start using them on the injured players." Kaiba ordered. "We move out in five minutes. It's time we end this game once and for all!"

* * *

Bakura sat atop his throne with an amused expression. He had seen the entire battle with Exodia Necross from a holographic screen.

"So they've finally made it." Bakura observed. "I was actually starting to get a little bored."

"You seem quite confident you can defeat them." Kayaba remarked from his mirror.

"Of course I am." Bakura replied. "I am the ruler of this world. Compared to me, Exodia Necross was nothing. Soon Yugi and his friends will face the full power of the Demon King, and when it's over Yugi's Millennium Puzzle will finally be mine!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** There was kind of a major time skip at the beginning of this chapter, as I'm sure everyone has noticed. I kind of felt like anything else before this major point in the story would've just been dragging things out. Anyway, coming up with the boss of floor ninety-nine was something of a challenge. Originally I thought about including Exodia as a way to defeat that boss, but then it occurred to me to use Exodia Necross as the boss instead. I only hope that I didn't make it too easy for Kirito and the others to beat.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	22. The Ruby Palace

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 21: The Ruby Palace

The fighting force led by Yugi and Kaiba took a moment to rest and recover from the previous battle before venturing through the final gate. Of the seventy players that took part in the assault, only thirty-nine survived the battle with Exodia Necross. But there was no turning back for any of the survivors. The final floor was ahead, and they needed to see the next battle through. As everyone completed their preparations, Kirito and Asuna took a moment for themselves in a corner of the room.

"Looks like this is it." Asuna observed. "You know if we do get out of this game, we'll end up getting separated."

"Don't worry. I'll find you." Kirito assured her.

"It'd probably be a lot easier if you knew my real name." Asuna pointed out. "I'm Asuna Yuuki. I'm seventeen."

"My real name's Kazuto Kirigaya." Kirito revealed. "I'm sixteen."

"So you're younger than me." Asuna observed with a smile.

"I'll find you, wherever you are." Kirito told her. "And I'll make sure you get out of this game alive."

"No matter what happens, I'll always love you." Asuna replied.

"Alright! We're moving out!" Kaiba declared. "If anyone hasn't used this time to prepare, then it's your own fault if you die! Now let's go!"

With that, the entire raiding party entered the gateway and teleported up to the floor above. In moments they materialized before a very large castle with red walls. All around them was an endless orange sky that seemed to go on forever. They were now on top of the steel castle that was the world they had been trapped in for over two years. The area was completely silent as they entered the castle. The outer chamber was completely empty.

After taking a moment to prepare, the players opened the next door. On the other side was a long corridor lined with suits of armor that lacked helmets. Each suit carried a sword and shield. Cautiously they entered the corridor and headed for the large red doors they assumed would take them to the throne room.

"Man, I don't like this one bit." Klein quietly remarked as he looked around. "This is way too easy."

As if on cue, once the players had traveled half way through the corridor, some of the suits of armor began to walk out from where they were standing and face them. Names appeared above their headless stumps, revealing that the suits of armor were actually creatures called Headless Knights.

"You had to jinx it, didn't you?" Agil asked Klein.

The Headless Knights charged at the players and a battle soon began. Kirito quickly took out two of the knights by slashing them in the chest. But soon after four small doors in the walls of the corridor opened up and the hallway was quickly filled by creatures that were all too familiar to Kirito. They were Goblin Zombies, the monsters that had slaughtered almost all of the Moonlit Black Cats. Kirito froze as two of the undead goblins charged at him. Suddenly Asuna charged in and quickly destroyed one of the creatures, while Joey took out the other with a blast of blue flames from his sword.

"You okay man?" a concerned Joey asked Kirito.

"Kirito?" an equally concerned Asuna spoke.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry." Kirito finally responded after getting over his shock.

"This is a waste of time!" Kaiba declared as the corridor became filled with Goblin Zombies. "Yugi! You and that loser guild of yours are coming with me to the boss room! We'll fight Kayaba by ourselves if we have to! The rest of you, hold off these monsters!"

"Man, I can't wait to get out of this game so I can stop following that jerk's orders!" Klein declared as he slashed apart two more of the zombies.

"Tell me about it." Agil agreed as he took out another one.

Kirito and the others fought their way through the zombie hoard as the rest of the raiding party tried to hold them off. As they made their way to the end of the corridor they saw four more players get destroyed. After hacking and slashing their way through more of the undead goblins they made it to the doors. Joey and Honda kicked them open and the seven quickly went inside. Once they were all through, the doors slammed shut behind them. They found themselves inside another smaller and darker corridor that was open at the end.

"This is it." Yugi told them. "Be ready."

"You don't have to tell me." Kaiba responded as he went ahead.

The group made their way through the small hallway and entered the vast throne room at the end. Bakura sat on the throne atop the small column of steps.

"Ah, Yugi. Kirito. Asuna. So glad you could all finally make it." Bakura greeted with a wicked grin as he rose from his throne. "It's only fitting that gamers of your caliber should die here at the final stage."

"What the…? Yugi, what's another one of your loser friends doing here?" Kaiba demanded to know.

"It seems Yugi didn't tell you." Bakura observed as he walked down the steps. "I usurped control of this game from Akihiko Kayaba before all of this began."

"Yugi, you knew this and didn't tell me?" a rather irritated Kaiba asked.

"Like you would've believed us if we told you, ya jerk." Joey pointed out.

"The one really in control of this game is the spirit of Bakura's Millennium Ring." Yugi explained.

"Not this nonsense again!" Kaiba complained.

"This ends now, you bastard!" Kirito declared as he pointed one of his swords at Bakura. "I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done!"

"You're half right, Kirito." Bakura responded as he stood before the group in the center of the room. "This game will end now. But none of you stand a chance of the defeating my true avatar in this game, Demon King Zorc!"

With that, Bakura suddenly became enveloped in a massive pillar of purple flames. The flames quickly subsided to reveal a muscular humanoid demon that stood at about sixteen feet. He had brownish-grey skin and a horn-like mask covered the top half of his skeletal face. Long white hair grew from the back of the demon's head. His torso and shoulders were clad in black armor with gold trim, and he had on a pair of long black pants. Hanging from his back was a long red cape, and in his right hand he held a large double-bladed axe with a long black handle and a demonic silver skull carved at the top. Hanging from his neck by a brown string was an enlarged version of the Millennium Ring. Two sets of five HP gauges appeared by both sides of the demon's head.

"Ten health gauges?" a shocked Joey observed. "How the hell are we supposed to beat that?"

"You mortal insects don't stand a chance against my might." Zorc confidently declared in a demonic voice.

At this, Kaiba began to chuckle. "I'll admit that this boss avatar of yours is fairly impressive. But you've forgotten one thing. This dungeon is the only one that allows players to summon high-level dragons."

"True, you can summon your Blue-Eyes White Dragon here in this throne room." Zorc admitted. "But it hardly stands a chance against me."

"You're making a huge mistake by underestimating me." Kaiba confidently informed him. "When I haven't been working to clear the dungeons in this game, I've been training my Blue-Eyes to bring out its full power. And now it's assumed an even greater form!"

With that, Kaiba brought out a dragon-shaped horn and blew into it. Suddenly flying into the throne room from the skylight above was his faithful white dragon, but it had significantly changed since the last time Kirito and the others saw it. Not only had the dragon grown larger, it had also gained two extra head.

"Behold! My Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Kaiba triumphantly introduced.

"Aw man! Why didn't I work on training my Red-Eyes?" Joey asked.

"There's another way to increase Red-Eyes' power." Yugi revealed. "But first you must call it forth."

"You got it!" Joey replied before producing his own dragon-shaped horn.

Upon Joey's call, Red-Eyes flew down into the throne room through the skylight. It looked slightly less impressive next to Kaiba's three-headed dragon.

"I call forth the demon I have since revived!" Yugi declared as he raised his wand. "Arise, Summoned Skull!"

A beam of light shot from the end of Yugi's wand and struck the floor. The skull demon that Bakura's Diabound had destroyed months ago rose up from the light to stand next to Red-Eyes.

"And now I use the Spell of Fusion!" Yugi announced as the end of his wand began to glow with a green light. "I combine my Summoned Skull with Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon to create… Black Skull Dragon!"

A beam of green light shot from the end of the wand and hit Summoned Skull. The skull demon turned into green energy and went into the black dragon's chest. Red-Eyes began to turn muscular and parts of its body became covered in dark-grey bone. The horns on the dragon's head grew longer and curved forward.

"Blue-Eyes! Attack Demon King Zorc!" Kaiba commanded. "Ultimate Burst!"

"Black Skull Dragon! Attack with Meteor Flare!" Yugi and Joey commanded together.

Blue-Eyes fired a massive stream of white electrical energy from the mouths on all three of its heads. At the same time, Black Skull Dragon fired a barrage of molten fireballs at Zorc. The demon was struck by both attacks, creating a massive explosion within the throne room. It seemed like Bakura's avatar had been obliterated. But when the smoke cleared, the demon was still standing. His first HP gauge had only dropped by a very small amount.

"That's… impossible!" a shocked Kaiba declared.

"Impressive." Zorc remarked. "But let's see how you like this. Demon Axe of Ruin!"

With one swing of his large weapon, Zorc send forth a massive blade of black energy at the two dragons. The Blue-Eyes lost over half its HP from the attack, while the Black Skull Dragon was instantly destroyed.

"No way!" a shocked Kirito spoke. "How can he be that powerful?"

"Damn! I didn't come this far only to lose!" Kaiba decalred. "Blue-Eyes! Attack Zorc again! Ultimate Burst!"

The white dragon fired another shot at Zorc from his three heads. At the same time, Joey sent forth a massive blast of blue flames at the demon with a swing of his sword, while Yugi and Anzu fired blasts of magical energy. Honda drew two silver guns from the holsters at his waist and fired several shots at Zorc. Meanwhile Kirito and Asuna charged in and began slashing away at the demon's legs.

"Dark Phenomenon!" Zorc called out.

Krito and Asuna were suddenly hurled back several feet by an expanding wave of black energy. The HP had fallen into the red zone. When the smoke cleared again, Kirito and the others saw that they had barely made a dent in Zorc's first HP gauge.

"Demon Axe of Ruin!" Zorc called as he swung his weapon again.

Another large blade of black energy shot forth from the weapon and hit Blue-Eyes in the torso. The three-headed dragon's HP gauge fell to zero and it shattered into polygons.

"My Blue-Eyes!" an enraged Kaiba called out. "He'll pay for this!"

"All those attacks and we've hardly made a scratch!" Honda observed.

"Zorc's stats are just too high." Kirito observed. "At this rate, we're not gonna last much longer."

"This is just like during our original battle with Bakura!" Yugi recalled. "Back then, he made the level of Dark Master Zorc far too high for our characters in the game to stand against. He's done the same thing in this game as well!"

"That's right, Yugi." Zorc confirmed. "It was always the final outcome for you to lose this game. And once you lose, the game will end no matter how many other players are still alive."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Anzu asked.

"It means that once Yugi loses, I'll trigger a program that will kill every player in this game." Zorc revealed. "Which means when Yugi loses, everyone does!"

A look of shock appeared on Yugi's face. "No… how can you do this? This battle is only between you and me, Bakura! Leave everyone else out of this!"

"It's far too late for that, Yugi." Zorc told him. "If you want to save everyone, you'll have to defeat me. But I'm afraid that's not going to happen. It all ends now!"

"That's quite enough of that!" a voice suddenly interrupted. Kirito and the others looked to see a mirror hanging on the wall glowing with a golden light.

"Kayaba! What are you doing?" Zorc demanded to know.

"That's… Akihiko Kayaba?" a surprised Kirito asked.

"You may be in control of this game and this system, but I have not been powerless." Kayaba's voice revealed. "You were right before when you asked about how Yugi obtained the item that summoned the Dark Magician. I used the same trick you used to deliver that cursed game item to Asuna."

"Damn you!" Zorc cursed.

"I cannot allow this to continue any further." Kayaba continued. "We've been biding our time, waiting for the right moment to act. And now that moment has finally arrived."

"What do you mean by 'we'?" Zorc asked with a quirked brow.

"Did you truly think that the mind of that boy you've been controlling has been completely unconscious?" Kayaba asked. "He's been helping me come up with a way to defeat you. And now the time has come to put our plan into action."

With that, the mirror shattered and two balls of light shot from it into the room. One of the balls of light was red while the other was white. The two lights landed in between Zorc and the players. The ball of red light took the form of a man with long pale-blonde hair tied in a ponytail. He was clad in red armor and carried a silver shield with a red cross on the front. Meanwhile the ball of white light took the form of a young man with long white hair clad in white robes. He also had on white chest armor with a blue ankh on the front and a white conical hat with a blue gem in the front. In his right hand he carried a long golden staff with a clear gemstone embedded in the top.

"What is the meaning of this?" Zorc demanded to know.

"Using the data from my original avatar for this game, I've created an NPC for myself to use." The man in red armor explained. "You and the others know me as Akihiko Kayaba, but in this form I am known as Red Knight Heathcliff."

"As for me, I'm only an NPC based on the personality of the real Ryo Bakura." The young man in white explained. "You may call me White Wizard Bakura."

"Akihiko Kayaba… and an AI of the real Bakura?" a surprised Asuna asked.

"I apologize to you all for what has happened." Heathcliff told them. "While it was my intention to trap all of you in the game, I never wanted things to turn out like this."

"Why did you try doing all of this? Kirito asked. "Why did you create this world?"

Heathcliff chuckled a bit. "So much time has past, I hardly remember the answer to that question. When I was a boy, I would often play the tabletop version of this game with my friends. I would normally be the game master, and I set our adventures in a world within a steel castle floating in the sky. That vision stayed with me the whole time I began developing the full dive system. I wanted to travel to that world and experience as if it was real. But now this demon has twisted that vision into something sinister."

"I don't care what your reasons were!" Kaiba impatiently told him. "If you really are Akihiko Kayaba, then you should be able to end this madness with a simple command!"

"Unfortunately the Cardinal System now responds to that creature's will." Heathcliff told him. "Any commands to try and override the game will be easily overridden. The only way for this to end is to defeat Zorc and clear this game. After that, all of the players that are still alive will be logged out."

"That's why we've arrived." Wizard Bakura added.

"You're fools if you think your aid will make the slightest bit of difference." Zorc told the two NPCs.

"Don't be so sure, Zorc." Wizard Bakura replied. "Or have you forgotten what happened the last time you fought my friends?"

With that, Heathcliff charged at Zorc and drew his sword. He jumped up and slashed the demon in the stomach, causing him to roar in pain. His first HP gauge plummeted into the red zone. Heathcliff renewed his attack and slashed Zorc again, taking a large amount off his second HP gauge.

"If Kayaba thinks he's going to get all of the glory, he's wrong!" Kaiba declared as he raised his sword.

With one slash, Kaiba sent a massive blade of energy at Zorc. The demon tried to block the attack by using his left hand, only for his forearm to be cut off. The severed appendage shattered into polygons while Zorc's third HP gauge fell to zero.

"Anzu, you work on healing Kirito and Asuna while the rest of us hold Zorc off." Yugi ordered.

"Right!" Anzu replied with a nod before turning her attention to Kirito and Asuna.

Joey swung his sword and sent another blade of blue flames at Zorc. At the same time, Honda hit the demon with another barrage of magical bullets. Zorc's fourth and fifth HP gauges quickly fell to nothing.

"Come forth, Dark Magician!" Yugi called.

The Dark Magician quickly appeared from a beam of light shot from Yugi's amulet. Yugi and Wizard Bakura looked at one another and nodded before sending streams of magical energy into the legendary wizard. Soon Dark Magician began to glow with a bright purple aura.

"Dark Magician, throw everything you've got at Zorc!" Yugi commanded. "Dark Magic Attack!"

Dark Magician blasted the demon with a massive amount of cracking black energy. Zorc roared in pain as his sixth and seventh HP gauges dropped to zero.

"How can this be?" Zorc demanded to know. "Your attacks shouldn't be doing this much damage!"

"It seems you really have forgotten what happened the last time White Wizard Bakura joined in our battle." Yugi observed. "Such as how he used his white magic to lower your stats."

"Right now I'm casting a field of white magic over this entire room." Wizard Bakura told the demon. "It's lowering your defense stats as we speak. At the same time, the enchanted armor of Red Knight Heathcliff is raising the attack stats of all the players here. Now the playing field is far more even."

"It's time I got in on this!" Kirito decided as soon as Anzu finished restoring his HP. "I'm taking you down right now!"

Kirito raised his swords and charged in for the attack. Zorc raised his great axe to attack him. But before he could swing his axe, something happened to make the demon freeze and cause his eighth HP gauge to drop slightly. Kirito stopped for a moment and Zorc looked down. The both saw that Asuna had already charged in from the side and stabbed Zorc in the leg with a black sword.

"Zorc's paralyzed?" Kirito realized.

"What did you do?" Zorc angrily demanded to know.

"I'm using the same enchanted sword you tricked me into getting before." Asuna explained. "It paralyzes whatever enemy it's used on. The paralysis doesn't last long against boss monsters like you, but the longer the blade stays in, the longer it lasts."

"You damn… witch!" Zorc cursed.

"Kirito, hit him now!" Asuna told him.

Kirito continued his charged and the blades of his golden swords began to glow. Once he was in range he began to slash wildly at the demon. Zorc's eighth HP gauge began to plummet. Heathcliff meanwhile went around behind the demon and slashed him in the back. Honda quickly reloaded his guns and fired another barrage, taking out the last of Zorc's ninth HP gauge. Anzu and Dark Magician launched another magical attack at the demon, cutting his final HP gauge in half.

At the same time, Kirito finished his multiple slash attack, causing a cross of golden light to appear on Zorc's body where he had been cutting him. The demon's remaining HP gauge fell into the red. Suddenly a blast of purple flames repelled Kirito and Asuna across the room. The players quickly gathered together as Zorc suddenly fell to his knees, his body completely covered in purple fire. The flames subsided and the group found that Zorc had transformed.

The demon was in a couching position. His body was covered in off-white bone and purple sinew, leaving his face looking more skull-like than before. A tail had sprouted from his behind and on his chest was a covering that obscured some kind of opening. Six long curved spikes grew out of the creature's back.

"What's going on?" Asuna wondered.

"I never thought it would get this far, but your attacks have forced me to take on my most powerful form, Final Zorc!" the demon explained. "Now my power is even stronger than before! Any hope you had for victory has now been lost! Prepare to die!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Bakura's true avatar in this game, Demon King Zorc, is basically the online game version of his Dark Master Zorc avatar from the original manga. Which I'm sure many of you reading have already figured out. Dark Master Zorc, by the way, was turned into a card for the actual card game. And it's a card I've always wanted for my collection (I couldn't even find the thing as a dang common!). I kind of wish I could get Demon King Zorc turned into a real card. At the very least, all I can do though is use it in another fanfic as an homage to this story (though I have no clue how I'd be able to work that in). If I were to do that at some point, the card would probably be a Synchro monster. Anyway, stay tuned for the next exciting chapter.

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


	23. Endgame

**Author's Note:** I was originally planing to do an epilogue after this chapter, but the chapter itself ended up being too short. I think it's because I decided to cut a certain scene that I felt didn't add much. So the epilogue and the final chapter ended up getting merged together into this. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.

* * *

Chapter 22: Endgame

"Don't think that you've completely turned the tables on us, Zorc!" Yugi told the demon. "Your final form may have higher stats, but I'm sure it also has a crucial weakness."

"And I'm sure you've figured it out." Zorc replied. "But there's no way you can do anything to exploit it. Besides, it won't be long before this world begins to crumble."

Before anyone could ask what Zorc meant, the entire castle began to shake and almost knocked the players to the ground. The quake stopped after a few moments, but the force of it was strong enough to crack the walls of the castle.

"What was that?" Asuna wondered.

"The beginning of the end." Zorc answered. "My transformation into Final Zorc is not the only thing that's happened. By taking my HP to the bring, you've also triggered a program that will destroy this world and kill every player left in the game within ten minutes starting now. It is truly the beginning of the end."

* * *

Lisbeth quickly exited her shop to take a look at what was going on outside. Only moments ago it seemed like the entire building was going to crash down on her. Outside she saw that the sky had turned a very odd shade of blood red. All of the other players currently in town had come out to look as well and were equally confused.

"What the hell is going on?" Lisbeth wondered as she gazed up at the sky.

"Hey Liz!" a familiar voice called. Lisbeth looked and saw Silica running towards her down the street.

"Hi Silica. Do you know what that quake we just had was about?" Lizbeth asked.

"No clue. But I'm glad you're okay." Silica replied. "That tremor was so strong I was afraid that your shop might've collapsed or something."

"I thought that was going to happen for a minute there too. But as you can see, my place is still standing." Lisbeth pointed out. "What I'm trying to figure out right now though is what's going on with the sky."

"You think this might have something to do with Kirito and the others trying to clear the final floor?" Silica asked.

"If that is the reason, I really hope Kirito is okay." Lisbeth replied.

Suddenly the air became filled with a horrid screeching noise, causing Lisbeth and Silica to look back up. The sky had become filled with grey demonic-looking creatures with bat-like wings, red eyes, and long pointed tails. The creatures flew down and swarmed through the city, attacking any player they saw. The girls looked on in horror as they saw five players in a matter of seconds. One of the demons swooped down and tried to attack Lisbeth. Silica threw a dagger into the creature's chest, causing its HP to drop. Her dragon Pina hit the beast with a blast of sparkling blue flames that finished it off.

"How can this be happening?" a terrified Lisbeth asked. "The towns and cities in this game are supposed to be safe zones where no one gets killed!"

"We have to get out of here!" Silica told her as she grabbed her by the wrist.

As the two girls began to run, the ground suddenly shook again and almost caused them to fall to the ground. The ground burst open behind them and Lisbeth turned around just in time to see her shop and the surrounding buildings sink into a crack full of lava.

"Now I know what this is." Lisbeth spoke. "It's… the end of the world."

* * *

"As we speak, the players on the lower floors are already beginning to drop like flies." Zorc told Kirito and the others. "If the quakes don't kill them, the demon hoard will. There are now only two possible endings to the game. Either you kill me by some miracle and clear the game, which will log everyone out. Or you fail and everyone dies, making this game a draw. Of course if I die in the game, the system will simply log me out. So in reality, I will be the only one who truly wins."

"You bastard!" Kirito cursed. "So this is the kind of game you play, huh? When it looks like you're about to lose, you just try and take your opponents down with you!"

"You have less then ten minutes to defeat me. But then again your lives are now only worth a few seconds!" Zorc replied as the circular panel on his chest opened up, revealing a red demonic eye inside. "Zorc Inferno!"

The demon fired an intense blast of crimson hellfire at Kirito and the others. Heathcliff jumped in front of the attack and tried to block it with his shield. In seconds his shield shattered and his body took the full force of the attack. When the blast finally ended, Heathcliff's HP plunged to zero.

"It looks like I've bought you all… a bit more time." Heathcliff told them before his body shattered into polygons.

"We have to finish Zorc before he can launch another attack!" Yugi told the others.

"Cover me! I've got this one!" Kirito told them.

"Kirito?" Asuna responded.

"Asuna, you stay here with Yugi." Kirito told her. "I'll be back in a second."

With that, Kirito charged at the demon and began chanting under his breath. Ra appeared behind Kirito in his phoenix form and shrouded his body in gold flames. As Kirito moved in, Dark Magician, Anzu, and Honda opened fire on the demon. Zorc's HP began to drop slightly. Kirito then came in striking range and began slashing away at Zorc's torso. After a few moments, the flames surrounding Kirito subsided and his HP fell into the red. But at the same time, Zorc's HP had become nothing more than a red sliver. Suddenly Zorc's tail swooped in and knocked Kirito away.

"You've annoyed me for the last time!" Zorc declared as he flung the end of his tail forward to skewer Kirito through the chest.

Suddenly Wizard Bakura moved in and shielded Kirito from the attack. The white wizard's HP quickly dropped to nothing. Wizard Bakura looked down at Kirito and smiled.

"Please… protect my friends for me." The wizard requested before his body shattered into polygons.

Asuna and Yugi quickly ran to Kirito's side. Asuna helped Kirito to his feet while Yugi stepped forward to face Zorc.

"So now you're going to try and finish me off?" Zorc asked with a wry expression.

"All I have to do is survive your next attack and I'll beat you." Yugi told him as he raised his wand and took a fighting stance.

"You're foolish if you think you have any better chance of blocking my attack than Kayaba." Zorc retorted. "But go ahead and try! Zorc Inferno!"

Yugi raised a magical barrier to block Zorc's stream of hellfire, but the force of the attack quickly shattered it to bits. At the last second before the attack was going to hit, Kirito and Asuna knocked Yugi out of the way, taking the attack full force. When the flames subsided, Kirito and Asuna's HP gauges dropped to zero. Within the space of only ten seconds, Kirito and Asuna looked at each other for a moment before smiling down at Yugi. They tried to take each other's hands, but their bodies shattered apart before they could touch.

Everything seemed to fall silent within Bakura's throne room. Anzu began to break down in tears. Joey and Honda were both frozen in shock. Even Kaiba seemed shaken by Kirito and Asuna's sudden deaths. Somehow Yugi managed to get back to his feet and stood to face Zorc. Meanwhile the demon's cruel laughter began to fill the room.

"Sorry about your little friends, Yugi." Zorc sarcastically spoke. "They were actually very amusing for me until the very end. But don't worry. You'll be joining them soon enough."

"Dark Magician… Obliterate Zorc." Yugi commanded in a low hate-filled voice. "DARK MAGIC ATTACK!"

"Dark Magician? What…?" Zorc began to ask with a quirked brow.

The demon glanced back and saw that the Dark Magician was hovering behind him. The wizard had apparently gotten behind him while his attention was fixed on Yugi and the others. With an expression of rage on his face, Dark Magician cried out and fired a massive blast of cracking black energy at Zorc's back. The force of the attack was so strong that it blew a hole through the front of Zorc's torso. The demon's remaining HP fell to zero and his body exploded in a blast of purple flames.

With Zorc dead, everything around Yugi suddenly turned grey. Anzu, Joey, and everyone else in the room turned into wireframes before vanishing. Slowly the room began to fade away as well. In moments the flames that burned where Zorc once stood subsided to reveal Bakura's evil persona standing in his place. An evil grin was on the wicked game master's face.

"Well Yugi, it looks like you've defeated me again." Bakura observed. "But our battle is far from over. But I'll let you have this victory. It's a shame about Kirito and Asuna though. In the end, it seems you weren't able to protect them after all."

With that, Bakura began to laugh as his body faded away. With tears starting to stream down his face, Yugi cried out in rage as everything around him vanished. In seconds his body faded away as well.

* * *

Kirito slowly opened his eyes to see a dull grey ceiling above him. He raised his right hand above his face and saw that it looked like nothing but skin and bone. It soon dawned on him that he was in a dim hospital room. He was back in the real world. Kirito wasn't sure how that was possible though. The last thing he remembered was being hit by Zorc's final attack. The way the game had been set up, the NerveGear should've fried his brain.

He put the question of how he was still alive out of his mind though as he slowly managed to sit up. He pulled off the NerveGear helmet that was still on his head, freeing the long black hair that had been growing inside it for over two years. As the reality of being back in the real world continued to sink in, a single image appeared before Kirito's mind. It was an image of Asuna standing in front of the sparking lake by their old house, wearing her yellow sweater. Kirito realized that Asuna had also been hit by Zorc's attack, but there was a slim chance that if he had somehow survived, she could've too.

Kirito pulled himself out of his hospital bed as quickly as he could. Using the IV pole attached to his arm as a crutch he managed to get up and walk out of the room. He entered the dreary corridor of the hospital and began heading towards the light at the end that was probably coming from a large window. There was a chance that Asuna was still out there somewhere. And he wasn't going to stop until he found her.

* * *

It was the morning of June fifth, 2025 as Kirito got out of bed to start another day. He had dreamed again of his time in MWO again during the night before, of the days he had spent with Asuna. After getting dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, Kirito headed downstairs to the kitchen. His breakfast was already waiting for him on the counter. As he sat down to eat, Kirito could hear the sound of the TV coming from the living room. It was another news broadcast talking about what the media had dubbed the MWO incident, as if he hadn't heard enough about the aftermath already.

Out of the ten thousand players that had become trapped within MWO, only eight hundred and forty-three had come out of it alive. And of those players, three hundred of them had yet to come out of their comas for reasons still unknown. No one had been able to find Akihiko Kayaba since the incident began, but the authorities were still looking. Naturally, Kayaba had taken the blame for the whole incident. It seemed only fair to Kirito, as Kayaba had been planning to trap everyone in the game to begin with. And it seemed very unlikely that anyone would believe that an evil spirit from Ancient Egypt was really behind what went on in the game.

The authorities had interrogated Kirito about what had happened within the game soon after he had come out of his coma. He told them everything he could, or at least everything he thought they would believe. In exchange he had asked that his NerveGear would not be destroyed and that they do everything they could to locate Asuna for him. The first request the authorities easily granted, but they told Kirito that the second request was impossible. Soon after the start of the MWO incident, Industrial Illusion's partner company Kaiba Corp had taken over control of maintaining the game. And the company was very adamant about not releasing the identities of the game's still living players.

Thus Kirito was left to wonder about Asuna's fate. All he knew was that her name was not on the list of those players who had died in the game. But that didn't leave out the possibility that she was one of those players that were still comatose. It was the not knowing what had happened to her that really got to Kirito. Ever since that day he woke up in his hospital room, Kirito had simply been going through the motions of life. He worked to regain the strength his body had lost while in its vegetative state. But a part of him was still back in the world of MWO. He knew that he wouldn't be able to start to move on from that time until he found Asuna again.

"Good morning, Kazuto." A familiar voice greeted from behind.

Kirito looked back and saw a young woman with short black hair and a good-sized bust standing behind him. She had on a short white skirt and a red t-shirt. Kirito knew this girl as his sister, Suguha.

"Morning, Sugu." Kirito greeted back before turning back to his unfinished breakfast.

"So how are you feeling today?" Sugu asked as she sat down in the chair next to him.

"Okay I guess." Kirito replied. "You have kendo practice today?"

"Yeah, but we can do something later this afternoon if you want." Sugu offered. Before Kirito could respond they both heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it."

Upon opening the door, Sugu saw two large men standing on the other side. They were both wearing black suits and sunglasses.

"We're here for Kazuto Kirigaya." One of the thugs told her.

"Why, what's this about?" Sugu asked. "Who are you two?"

"What's going on here?" Kirito asked as he came to the door.

"Our boss wants to have a word with you." The second of the two thugs informed him. "It'd be a lot easier on everyone if you cooperated and come with us."

Kirito noticed that the jacket of one of the thugs was open slightly, revealing a gun. He didn't like the idea of what might happen if he refused to come with them. There was one thing he was certain of though. His two visitors didn't work for the government.

"Fine, I'll go." Kirito finally agreed. "Sugu, I'll try to be back soon."

"But Kazuto…" Sugu tried to argue.

Before she could finish her sentence though, Kirito was led out of the house by the two thugs to a black limo that was parked outside the house. Kirito was ushered into the back of the vehicle. Inside he saw a boy with long black hair sitting in one of the seats. He had on a blue striped shirt with an orange pants and denim jeans. His face seemed somehow familiar to Kirito.

"So you're Kirigaya." The boy greeted as one of the thugs closed the door. "Sorry to bug you this early in the morning, but my brother insists on having a word with you."

"Your brother?" Kirito asked.

"Sorry, I should introduce myself." The boy realized. "I'm Mokuba Kaiba. You may remember my brother Seto from MWO."

"You're Kaiba's little brother." Kirito quickly observed.

"I'm also the vice president of Kaiba Corp." Mokuba revealed. "You wouldn't believe what a hassle it's been running the company while my brother was gone. One of the worst parts was dealing with the government. Of course they've been a lot more cooperative since my brother came back and resumed control. But that's probably because he told them most of what they wanted to know about what happened inside the game."

It was starting to make a little more sense to Kirito why the authorities hadn't told him where Asuna was. They didn't really have to because Kaiba had given them most of what they wanted to know. And in exchange they were letting him handle most of the mess left by the MWO incident.

"Even though my brother's back though, he's having me handle trying to log out those other three hundred players that haven't woken up yet." Mokuba continued. "We're still not any closer to finding a way to log out players from the outside than we were while the game was going on."

"Just what is it that Kaiba wants to talk to me about?" Kirito asked.

"Oh, I'll let him explain that." Mokuba replied. "For now, just sit back and enjoy the ride. I bet it's not everyday you get to ride around in a limo."

Seeing that he wasn't going to get anything more out of Mokuba, Kirito let the matter drop. He found it hard to do as the boy vice president suggested and enjoy the ride. After a few minutes they finally arrived at the building that was the main headquarters for Kaiba Corp. Kirito was escorted out of the limo and taken into the building. They took the elevator to the roof, where Kirito saw Kaiba waiting a few feet from a helicopter, wearing a sleeveless white coat with a black shirt and pants. His arms were crossed and an arrogant sneer was on his face. Upon seeing Kaiba, Kirito slowly walked up to him.

"Kazuto Kirigaya, a.k.a. Kirito." Kaiba spoke. "I have to say, I was a little amused to find that you were still alive. Your NerveGear must've malfunctioned and logged you out instead of killing you. That's what I call luck."

"I don't know why you've brought me here, and frankly I don't care." Kirito told him. "Right now I want to ask you for a favor. I want to know where Asuna is. The government won't tell me, but maybe you could help me find her."

"I see. You must think I owe you some kind of favor since we worked together to clear Kayaba's little game." Kaiba assumed. "Let me make one thing clear to you, Kirigaya. The only one I owe a favor to is Yugi! You're only a loser who ended up getting killed and survived because of a random glitch! Therefore I owe you nothing!"

"You bastard!" Kirito cursed.

At this, Kaiba chuckled and looked back at two of his thugs on the roof. "Bring out the girl."

The two thugs nodded and went back into the stairwell. When they came back they were escorting a young woman with long orange brown hair. Kirito instantly recognized her as Asuna. Their eyes quickly met and slowly Asuna began to walk towards Kirito.

"Hi." Asuna greeted with a warm smile.

"Hey." Kirito greeted back.

"So… I finally found you." Asuna responded.

"There hasn't been a day that's gone by when I haven't thought about you." Kirito told her.

"Same here." Asuna replied. "Now that we're here, I can properly introduce myself. I'm Asuna Yuuki."

"I'm Kazuto Kirigaya." Kirito greeted back. "It's nice to finally meet you, Asuna."

Slowly the two of them moved in closer, and very soon their lips met in a deep kiss. Tears began to stream down their cheeks as they wrapped their arms around one another. After what seemed like an eternity they had finally found each other again. For them, MWO had finally come to its end.

"The two of you can get reacquainted with each other in a cheap motel somewhere later." Kaiba told them in an impatient tone as he headed for the helicopter. "Right now you're both coming with me."

The two of them were both offended by Kaiba's comment, Asuna especially so. Grudgingly the got into the waiting helicopter as its propeller blades began to turn. Within a few moments they had taken off into the air and flew across the city.

"So are you going to tell us what this is all about?" Asuna asked.

"I'd think you'd be a little more grateful about this, since I went to all the trouble of reuniting the two of you." Kaiba responded.

"We are, but you're obviously not doing this for us." Kirito pointed out. "So what's this all about?"

Kaiba glanced out the window. "Looks like we're here. Why don't the two of you look out the window? The answer to your question is down there."

Kirito and Asuna looked and saw the roof of what looked like a school building. Standing on the roof they saw Yugi, Joey, Anzu, and Honda. The helicopter landed on the roof before Yugi and the others. Upon getting a closer look from the window, Kirito and Asuna saw that Yugi was as his normal self. Kaiba got out of the vehicle and walked towards Yugi and the others.

"Okay Kaiba, we came like you asked." Joey told them. "Now what the hell is all this about?"

"You should be a little more grateful, you deadbeat." Kaiba told him. "I've brought all of you a little present."

With that, Kaiba looked back at the helicopter. Kirito and Asuna got the signal and exited the vehicle. Smiles quickly appeared on the faces of Yugi and his friends as soon as they saw them.

"Kirito… Asuna… you're actually alive!" Yugi happily observed.

"Hi guys." Kirito greeted. "I guess you didn't expect to see us."

Kaiba stood before Yugi and glared down at him. "Alright Yugi. I've done what you asked. Now tell that other self of yours to get over what happened in that game and come out!"

Yugi closed his eyes and became bathed in a golden light from his Millennium Puzzle. The light faded and Yugi had taken on his heroic persona.

"Thank you, Kaiba." The Pharaoh spoke. "This means a great deal to me."

"I only did this because I need you at your best." Kaiba told him. "My Battle City tournament begins in two weeks, and I expect you to be in it. So quite sulking already so we can settle the score between us!"

"Very well Kaiba. I'll enter your tournament." Yugi agreed. "And I will defeat you!"

"We'll see about that." Kaiba responded before turning on his heel and getting back into the helicopter. In moments the vehicle took off and headed back to Kaiba Corp.

"Man, it's real great to see you guys again." Joey declared.

"What did Kaiba mean when he told Yugi to quite sulking?" Asuna asked.

"The other Yugi's been really depressed ever since we got out of MWO." Anzu explained. "This is actually the first time we've seen him in two months."

"I'm sorry to have worried you all." Yugi told them. "But I'm starting to feel better now. Right now I'm happy to see that Kirito and Asuna have survived."

"What's going on up here?" a slightly familiar voice asked.

Kirito and Asuna looked and saw Bakura emerging onto the roof. Kirito immediately glared at the white-haired young man while Asuna hid behind him.

"What do you want, you bastard?" Kirito demanded to know.

"Oh, are you speaking to me?" a surprised Bakura asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Whoa! Chill Kirito. That's the regular Bakura." Honda informed him. "We told you about him, remember?"

Kirito and Asuna took a closer look at Bakura. The features of his face did appear different. And he didn't have the killer eyes that they had become far too familiar with. Plus it seemed like Bakura didn't know who they were.

"Oh, sorry." Kirito told Bakura as he dropped his guard. "I guess you really aren't the Bakura Asuna and I have had to deal with."

"You're the two friends Yugi and the others met in Monster World Online." Bakura quickly realized. "I'm terribly sorry for everything that happened. It's all might fault for wearing the Millennium Ring again that time."

"That other you isn't coming back, is it?" Asuna asked.

"I don't think so." Bakura answered. "I think when Yugi defeated the personality in my ring, it wounded him. He shouldn't bother anyone as long as I don't put the ring back on."

"The important thing is that the game's over now and that we're all back safe and sound." Anzu pointed out.

"Yeah, but I still think it's weird that Asuna and I are still alive." Kirito admitted. "We both ended up getting killed in the game, which means we should've died in real life too."

"I know. I mean what are the chances of both our NerveGears malfunctioning like that?" Asuna agreed.

"Yes… it is strange." Yugi admitted as he glanced at Bakura with a slight heir of suspicion.

"C'mon, what're you guys making such a big deal about?" Joey asked. "The important thing is that you're both alive."

"Jonouchi's right." Bakura agreed. "You should both be happy that you're back safe and sound."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Kirito admitted.

"Hey, why don't all of us go somewhere to get a bite to eat?" Anzu suggested. "We can all get to know each other outside the game."

"You guys go on ahead without me." Bakura told them. "I've got some errands I have to run."

"Okay. We'll see you later, Bakura." Joey replied.

* * *

Bakura walked away from the school and looked back up at the roof. His evil persona had since taken over. From where he was standing, he could still see Kirito and the others discussing where they should go.

"Those fools think that it was only a mere glitch that saved Kirito and Asuna." Bakura remarked to himself. "The real reason their alive is because I extended them the same privilege I had in the game after the incident with little Yui. Those two have a connection to the ancient past, and until I can figure out whether or not I need them to unlock the ultimate power, I'm going to need those two alive."

Bakura continued to walk away from the school chuckling evilly. Monster World Online may have ended. But the game between him, Kirito, Asuna, and Yugi had only just begun.

MONSTER WORLD ONLINE: END

* * *

**Afterward:** Well, there we have it. To me, this story has been one of the biggest fan fiction stories I've done so far. There are some parts that I probably could've done better, and I kind of wish that this story was a little more popular. But it's very satisfying to see something that I've been planning and polishing for months finally come together. So I'd like to thank everyone who's read or reviewed this story. I hope you all enjoyed it. But as the ending of this first story said, this is only just the beginning. There are going to be a few sequels.

The next story will be using the game of ALO as the setting, but will have a more original story. Before that though I'm going to do a little bonus one-shot that will serve as a segway between this story and the next one. It's going to be an M rated story though due to a couple of the scenes. I plan to do the one-shot fairly soon, but I'm not sure when I'm going to get started on the actual sequel. I feel like I need to step away from this little series for a bit. But it will happen eventually.

So keep an eye out for the next story in this series, **MWO2: Fairy Masquerade**

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


End file.
